Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)

Marginal note:Arbitration fees

• 169.39 (1) The Agency may fix the fee to be paid to it or, if the arbitrator is not a member or on the staff of the Agency, to the arbitrator for the arbitrator’s services in arbitration proceedings.

• Marginal note:Arbitration fees — not member

  (2) An arbitrator who is not a member or on the staff of the Agency may fix a fee for his or her services if the Agency does not do so under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Payment of fees and costs

  (3) The shipper and the railway company are to share equally, whether or not the proceedings are terminated under section 169.41, in the payment of the fee for the arbitrator’s services and in the payment of the costs related to the arbitration, including those borne by the Agency in providing administrative, technical and legal assistance to the arbitrator under subsection 169.35(3).

• Marginal note:Cost related to arbitration

  (4) Costs related to the arbitration also include the cost to the Agency when a member or a person on the staff of the Agency acts as an arbitrator and the Agency does not fix a fee for that arbitrator under subsection (1).

Marginal note:Confidentiality of information

• 169.4 (1) If the Agency and the arbitrator are advised that a party to an arbitration wishes to keep information relating to the arbitration confidential, the Agency and the arbitrator must take all reasonably necessary measures to ensure that the information is not disclosed by the Agency or the arbitrator or during the arbitration to any person other than the parties.

• Marginal note:Limited disclosure

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the Agency may, in the exercise of its powers or in the performance of its duties and functions under this Act, disclose any information that a party advised the Agency and the arbitrator it wishes to keep confidential.

Marginal note:Termination of proceedings

169.41 If, before the arbitrator makes his or her decision, the parties advise the Agency or the arbitrator that they agree that the matters being arbitrated should be withdrawn from arbitration, any proceedings in respect of those matters are immediately terminated.

Marginal note:List of arbitrators

• 169.42 (1) The Agency, in consultation with representatives of shippers and railway companies, must establish a list of persons, including persons who are members or on the staff of the Agency, who agree to act as arbitrators in arbitrations.

• Marginal note:Expertise required

  (2) Only persons who, in the Agency’s opinion, have sufficient expertise to act as arbitrators are to be named in the list.

• Marginal note:Publication of list

  (3) The Agency must publish the list on its Internet site.

Marginal note:Application for order

• 169.43 (1) A railway company may apply to the Agency, within 10 days after the day on which it is served with a copy of a submission under subsection 169.32(2), for an order declaring that the shipper is not entitled to submit to the Agency for arbitration a matter contained in the shipper’s submission.

• Marginal note:Content of order

  (2) If the Agency makes the order, it may also

  • (a) dismiss the submission for arbitration, if the matter contained in it has not been referred to arbitration;

  • (b) discontinue the arbitration;

  • (c) subject the arbitration to any terms that it specifies; or

  • (d) set aside the arbitrator’s decision or any part of it.

• Marginal note:Period for making decision

  (3) The Agency must make a decision on the railway company’s application made under subsection (1) as soon as feasible but not later than 35 days after the day on which it receives the application.

PART VTransportation of Persons with Disabilities

Marginal note:Definitions

169.5 The following definitions apply in paragraph 5(d.1) and this Part.

barrier

barrier means anything — including anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice — that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation. (obstacle)

disability

disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society. (handicap)

Marginal note:Regulations

• 170 (1) The Agency may, after consulting with the Minister, make regulations for the purpose of identifying or removing barriers or preventing new barriers — particularly barriers in the built environment, information and communication technologies and the design and delivery of programs and services — in the transportation network under the legislative authority of Parliament to the mobility of persons with disabilities, including regulations respecting

  • (a) the design, construction or modification of, and the posting of signs on, in or around, means of transportation and related facilities and premises, including equipment used in them;

  • (b) the training of personnel employed at or in those facilities or premises or by carriers;

  • (c) tariffs, rates, fares, charges and terms and conditions of carriage applicable in respect of the transportation of persons with disabilities or incidental services; and

  • (d) the communication of information to persons with disabilities.

• Marginal note:Incorporation by reference

  (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) incorporating standards or enactments by reference may incorporate them as amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Exemption

  (3) The Agency may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make orders exempting specified persons, means of transportation, services or related facilities and premises from the application of regulations made under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Exemption

  (4) On application and after consulting with the Minister, the Agency may, by order, on any terms that it considers necessary,

  • (a) exempt a person from the application of regulations made under subsection (1) if the Agency is satisfied that the person has taken or will take measures — at least equivalent to those that must be taken under the provisions of the regulations for which an exemption is to be granted — to remove barriers or to prevent new barriers; or

  • (b) exempt a class of persons from the application of regulations made under subsection (1) if the Agency is satisfied that all the members of the class have taken or will take measures — at least equivalent to those that must be taken under the provisions of the regulations for which an exemption is to be granted — to remove barriers or to prevent new barriers.

  The order ceases to have effect on the earlier of the end of the period of three years that begins on the day on which the order is made and the end of any shorter period specified in the order.

Marginal note:Coordination

171 The Agency and the Canadian Human Rights Commission shall coordinate their activities in relation to the transportation of persons with disabilities in order to foster complementary policies and practices and to avoid jurisdictional conflicts.

Marginal note:Inquiry — barriers to mobility

• 172 (1) The Agency may, on application, inquire into a matter in relation to which a regulation could be made under subsection 170(1), regardless of whether such a regulation has been made, in order to determine whether there is an undue barrier to the mobility of persons with disabilities.

• Marginal note:Remedies

  (2) On determining that there is an undue barrier to the mobility of persons with disabilities, the Agency may do one or more of the following:

  • (a) require the taking of appropriate corrective measures;

  • (b) direct that compensation be paid for any expense incurred by a person with a disability arising out of the barrier, including for any costs of obtaining alternative goods, services or accommodation;

  • (c) direct that compensation be paid for any wages that a person with a disability was deprived of as a result of the barrier;

  • (d) direct that compensation be paid up to a maximum amount of — subject to the annual adjustments made under section 172.2 — $20,000, for any pain and suffering experienced by a person with a disability arising out of the barrier;

  • (e) direct that compensation be paid up to a maximum amount of — subject to the annual adjustments made under section 172.2 — $20,000, if the Agency determines that the barrier is the result of a wilful or reckless practice.

• Marginal note:Compliance with regulations

  (3) If the Agency is satisfied that regulations made under subsection 170(1) that are applicable in relation to a matter have been complied with or have not been contravened, the Agency may determine that there is an undue barrier in relation to that matter but if it does so, it may only require the taking of appropriate corrective measures.

Marginal note:Inquiry — subsection 170(1)

• 172.1 (1) The Agency may, on application, inquire into a matter concerning any regulations made under subsection 170(1) to determine if the applicant has suffered physical or psychological harm, property damage or economic loss arising out of — or has otherwise been adversely affected by — a contravention of any provision of those regulations.

• Marginal note:Remedies

  (2) On determining that an applicant has suffered physical or psychological harm, property damage or economic loss arising out of — or has otherwise been adversely affected by — a contravention referred to in subsection (1), the Agency may do one or more of the following:

  • (a) require the taking of appropriate corrective measures;

  • (b) direct that compensation be paid to the applicant for any expense incurred by them arising out of the contravention, including for any costs of obtaining alternative goods, services or accommodation;

  • (c) direct that compensation be paid to the applicant for any wages that they were deprived of as a result of the contravention;

  • (d) direct that compensation be paid to the applicant up to a maximum amount of — subject to the annual adjustments made under section 172.2 — $20,000, for any pain and suffering experienced by them arising out of the contravention;

  • (e) direct that compensation be paid to the applicant up to a maximum amount of — subject to the annual adjustments made under section 172.2 — $20,000, if the Agency determines that the contravention is the result of a wilful or reckless practice.

Marginal note:Annual adjustment

• 172.2 (1) For the purpose of paragraphs 172(2)(d) and (e) and 172.1(2)(d) and (e), the maximum amount shall be adjusted annually so that in any calendar year following the one during which this section comes into force it is equivalent to the product of

  • (a) the amount that would have been the maximum amount for that following calendar year if no adjustment had been made under this section with respect to that year, and

  • (b) the ratio that the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year bears to the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year next before that preceding calendar year.

• Marginal note:Consumer Price Index

  (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a reference to the Consumer Price Index for any 12-month period means the average of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that 12-month period.

• Marginal note:Publication of adjusted amount

  (3) When a maximum amount is adjusted in accordance with this section, the Agency shall publish the maximum amount as so adjusted as soon as it is determined.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (4) A direction to pay compensation under any of paragraphs 172(2)(b) and (c) and 172.1(2)(b) and (c) may include an award of interest at a rate and for a period that the Agency considers appropriate.