Transport Canada

The Department of Transport, also referred to as Transport Canada, is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada.

The Department of Transport was created in 1935 by the government of Mackenzie King in recognition of the changing transportation environment in Canada. It merged two historic departments the former Department of Railways and Canals and the Department of Marine under one dynamic minister Clarence Decatur Howe who would use the portfolio to rationalize the governance and provision of all forms of transportation (air, water and land). He created a National Harbours Board and Trans-Canada Airlines. The Department of Transport Act came into force November 2, 1936.

Prior to a 1994 federal government reorganization, Transport Canada had a wide range of responsibilities including the Canadian Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway, airports and seaports, as well as VIA Rail. Significant cuts to Transport Canada resulted in the coast guard being transferred to Fisheries and Oceans and the seaway and various ports and airports being transferred to local operating authorities.

Transport Canada is responsible for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada which investigates accidents involving the marine, air, and rail industries.

Perhaps, the biggest challenge for Transport Canada came in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. After the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration closed down U.S. airspace as a result of the terrorist attacks, Transport Canada shut down Canadian airspace, to take in U.S.-bound international flights, launching Operation Yellow Ribbon.

The current Minister of Transport is the Honourable Jean Lapierre.

Aviation

Until 1996, Transport Canada was reponsible for both regulation of aviation and the operation of air traffic services, similar to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States, as well as the operation of most major airports. On November 1 1996, these responsibilities were split: Transport Canada remains responsible for regulation, but a new regulated private company, Nav Canada, took over responsibility for air traffic services. This change was (and remains) controversial because Nav Canada began charging for services that were previously provided by Transport Canada at taxpayer expense. In 2005, the United States was discussing a similar privatization of the FAA's air traffic services.

During the 1990s, Transport Canada also began privatizing the operation of large airports, and divesting itself of small airports altogether (typically handing them over to municipalities). Following the 1994 National Airports Policy, Transport Canada retains ownership of all airports with 200,000 or more annual passenger movements, as well as the primary airports serving the federal, provincial, and territorial capitals, but leases most of these airports (which make up the National Airports System) to outside operators; currently, there are 26 airports in the system.

Transport Canada continues to be responsible for licensing pilots and other aviation specialists (such as dispatchers and mechanics) as well as registering and inspecting aircraft.

See also

[[:Category::Airports of Canada]]

External link

• Transport Canada website