Term Four, 2011 to 2013

Minister of State for Transport

The transport portfolio put Fletcher across rail, aviation, marine, ports and infrastructure, and sent him around the country and to the Asia-Pacific. It also let him bring direct personal experience to accessible transportation from inside the department responsible for it.

The portfolio

After the May 2011 election Fletcher became Minister of State for Transport, serving with Minister Denis Lebel. The legal assignment was recorded in the Canada Gazette on June 8, 2011.¹ The portfolio took in VIA Rail, Canada Post, Marine Atlantic, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, bridge and pilotage authorities, and files across aviation, rail, marine transportation, gateways and infrastructure.

APEC, September 2011

Fletcher represented Canada at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Transportation Ministerial Meeting in San Francisco on September 14, 2011, and at the first joint APEC Transportation and Energy Ministers Conference. His agenda covered supply chain logistics technology, aviation and air cargo security, the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, disaster preparedness, regulatory cooperation, multimodal integration and regional economic integration.²

Afterwards the government reported that he had met United States Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Chinese Transportation Minister Li Shenglin, Japanese Senior Vice-Minister Jin Matsubara and Australian Ambassador Kim Beazley.³ He delivered Canada’s transport message to 21 APEC economies and promoted the Asia-Pacific Gateway in bilateral talks with major trading partners.

The long-term infrastructure plan

Budget 2012 committed the government to build a long-term infrastructure plan to succeed the seven year, $33 billion Building Canada plan after 2014. Fletcher and Lebel led the cross-country engagement behind it.

At the Yellowknife roundtable on June 29, 2012 Fletcher met the Northwest Territories government, municipal representatives and community and business leaders, emphasising long-term investment, partnership and public- private approaches.⁴ On July 26 he held a northern Ontario roundtable in Kenora.⁵ On July 31 the two ministers announced the completion of the provincial and territorial phase.⁶ He then carried the results into further meetings, including a briefing to the Moncton Chamber of Commerce on August 27⁷ and a national stakeholder roundtable with Lebel in September.⁸ Lebel later said the two of them had travelled the country and held 14 roundtables.⁹ The consultations fed into the 2013 New Building Canada Plan, a ten year federal commitment. Fletcher was one of the two ministers who ran that national engagement and developed its policy foundation.

VIA Rail

Fletcher announced and defended investment in passenger rail across track, stations, locomotives, safety, information systems and accessibility. Track improvements in the Quebec City to Windsor corridor were completed in November 2011.¹⁰ A $6.5 million programme of upgrades to Winnipeg Union Station, including accessibility and passenger improvements, was announced in May 2012.¹¹ Locomotive modernisation and further service and infrastructure improvements were announced in December 2012.¹² He set out the cumulative investment and its objectives for reliability, safety and passenger service before the Transport Committee in March and November 2012.¹³

Accessible transportation

At End Exclusion 2011 Fletcher addressed mobility barriers directly and confirmed that federally regulated air, rail, interprovincial bus and marine transportation had to account for travellers with disabilities.¹⁴ His approach emphasised partnership among government, carriers and disability organisations. The regulatory system of the day still rested largely on codes, agency decisions and carrier practice, well short of the Accessible Canada Act enacted in 2019.

Aviation

He brought into force the statutory authority behind all-in airfare advertising, later given effect by Canadian Transportation Agency regulation.¹⁵ With Labour Minister Lisa Raitt he responded to illegal screening service disruptions at Toronto Pearson in October 2011.¹⁶ In April 2013 he announced privacy enhancing software for full body scanners,¹⁷ and in May 2013 he addressed the Western Canadian Aviation Forum on the economic importance of a competitive aviation sector.¹⁸

In June 2012 he announced Canada’s Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aviation, built on collaboration with industry, fleet and operational efficiency, air traffic management and international coordination.¹⁹ The portfolio was not only about spending on infrastructure. It covered environmental performance and international aviation policy too.

Intelligent transportation systems

Fletcher argued for digital systems that improve safety, efficiency, reliability and environmental performance without relying solely on new physical infrastructure. In December 2011 the federal and Manitoba governments funded a study on intelligent transportation systems connected to CentrePort Canada.²⁰ At the 2013 ITS Canada conference he noted that Transport Canada had committed more than $40 million to intelligent transportation projects and research.²¹

Marine, Canada Post and Manitoba

He took part in the modernisation of Marine Atlantic, including the dedication of the MV Highlanders under a five year federal revitalisation of fleet and shore facilities, and announced leadership and board appointments across pilotage authorities, CATSA and other portfolio bodies. The 2011 postal dispute put Canada Post squarely in his portfolio, where he defended continuity of service and the corporation’s roughly $2 billion modernisation programme. The wider labour response, including back-to-work legislation, was led in significant part by the Labour portfolio.

In Manitoba he announced a federal contribution of up to approximately $46.65 million toward the expansion of the Winnipeg Convention Centre,²² alongside Union Station upgrades, CentrePort transportation technology planning, airport safety investments and local accessibility, employment, research and community projects. His March 2013 remarks to the Manitoba Trucking Association set trucking inside a larger national system of gateways, border efficiency, infrastructure and trade.²³