Tinkering with a system in clear need of an overhaul is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. In March, the Winnipeg lab of Intertek, a global commodities testing firm, received an unusual request. Manitoba farmer Paul Orsak brought in wheat samples from...
Mary-Jane Bennett
Derail interswitching policies
Forcing rail carriers to ship a competitor’s cars harms profitability and distorts the investment market The winter before last, Canadians endured their coldest-ever winter. On the rail lines, deliveries were slowed significantly, creating a backlog of grain and...
Federal regulators need to recognize the danger in transporting Alberta crude oil
Greenbrier tankers have been found to be twice as safe and eight times less likely to spill Last Saturday, just outside the northeastern Ontario town of Gogama, 38 cars loaded with bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands derailed, triggering a series of fiery...
Are Baggage Fees Here to Stay?
Last week, WestJet announced that it will begin charging a $25 to $29.50 fee for the first piece of checked luggage on some domestic flights. Days later, Air Canada announced matching fees. WestJet defended its move claiming that about a quarter of its passengers do...
Featured News
There’s Nothing Fair About Canadian Health Care
For the past 14 years, Vancouver surgeon Dr. Brian Day has led the charge for health-care reform, pushing for the right of patients to pay for private care if their health and well-being are threatened as a result of waiting in a stagnant and overburdened public...
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...
Getting on track: the Auditor-General and railway safety
According to Auditor-General Michael Ferguson’s recently released Fall Report, “significant weaknesses” continue at Transport Canada. These weaknesses have been flagged for some time, dating back a dozen years to when the federal government adopted a new rail safety...
Lessons from Lac-Megantic
Executive Summary Since 2008, the United States has been developing important policy relating to risk in the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. The dialogue has not been restricted to the conventional corporate participants—the chemical producers and...
Lessons from the Lac-Megantic accident
Since 2008, important policy debate has been developing in the United States on risk in the transportation of dangerous goods. The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) bankruptcy protection following the Lac-Mégantic disaster last summer provides an opportune...
The Economics of Airline Overbooking
A recent CBC radio report focused on the woes of an overbooked airline traveller. Missing was an analysis of the airline perspective. Overbooking is not, as consumer advocate Gabor Lukacs claims, a “deceptive practice.” Ralph Nader used the same language in his...
Thomas Mulcair is Wrong on Rail Deregulation
Mary-Jane Bennett shows why Thomas Mulcair is wrong to link the July rail disaster at Lac-Mégantic to “years of government deregulation” and why a return to over-regulation of rail in Canada would be a serious mistake.
Rail Relocation From Urban Centres Benefits Both Cities and Railways: It would address safety and land use concerns while providing improved transit and operational efficiencies to rail companies
The rail tragedy at Lac Mégantic, Québec, has opened a debate about the safety of railway in urban areas. Some argue a safety measure would be the relocation of rail lines away from urban areas. Those against this option make economic arguments about community sustainability and the high costs of relocation.
What Lessons Will We Learn From the Lac Mégantic Tragedy?
The explosion, shocking loss of life and the incineration of idyllic downtown Lac Mégantic, Québec, is a catastrophe for the ages. The tragedy, however, allows us to learn new lessons. The Transportation Safety Board will investigate the causes of the accident, and wider policy questions are being asked about the security of towns built along rail lines and the safety of transporting oil by rail.
The Canadian Air Industry and the Case of Porter Airlines: What’s next in the air industry?
This recent turbulence in the skies is not restricted to Canada. Around the world, the airline industry is in a state of flux. This Backgrounder analyzes the growth challenges of Canadian airlines.
Don’t Transfer Airport Ownership Without Compensating Canadians: Response to the Senate recommendation on airport rents
The Senate recently recommended that airport rents be phased out and ownership of Canada’s public airports be transferred to the non-profit corporations that now run them. Frontier’s Mary-Jane Bennett asserts that this is wrongheaded. Airports are publically owned and worth billions of dollars. They should not be transferred without fairly compensating Canadians.