ARCHIVED - Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada - Report

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Chairperson & CEO’s Message

It is once again my privilege to report the activities of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada (or the “Tribunal”).

The reporting period of 2009-2010 represents almost 24 years of service by the Tribunal which, together with its predecessor the Civil Aviation Tribunal, has delivered quality service to Canadians.

I am pleased to confirm that the Tribunal has made progress and innovations over the past year while keeping up with its expanding mandate to include cases under the Marine Transportation Security Act and the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. The passage of the Marine Transportation Security Regulations in November 2006 with its in force date of November 2007 brings to fruition the expanded multimodal mandate of the Tribunal. Additionally, the International Bridges and Tunnels Act has received Royal Assent. This Act confirms the federal government’s exclusive jurisdiction over international bridges and tunnels. It establishes a system of administrative monetary penalties for designated infractions of the legislation which may be reviewed through the Tribunal ’s two-level hearing process (Review and Appeal).

The Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body which adjudicates matters that have a serious impact on the livelihood and operations of the aviation, rail and marine sectors. It fulfills the essential role of providing an independent review of ministerial enforcement and licensing actions taken under various federal transportation Acts.

The Tribunal continues to conduct itself in an open, impartial manner consistent with procedural fairness and the rules of natural justice. The Tribunal encourages the use of pre-hearing conferences to assist the parties appearing before it, to identify the issues for determination by the Tribunal and to disclose and exchange documents. This reduces the length of hearings and avoids last-minute adjournments necessitated by late disclosure. This becomes an important factor given the current complexity of hearings with parties’ representatives requesting hearings from five to twenty days in length.

The program’s effectiveness can be measured by its ability to provide the transportation community with the opportunity to have ministerial decisions reviewed fairly, equitably and within a reasonable period of time. The average lapsed time between the conclusion of a review hearing and the issuance of a determination for this reporting period is 130 days and 120 days for an appeal. This brings the hearing process to a timely conclusion for both parties appearing before it.

J. Richard W. Hall
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer

Section I: Departmental Overview

Raison d’être and Responsibilities

The mandate and the jurisdiction of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada are provided for by the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada Act. The Tribunal's principal mandate as a multimodal review body is to hold Review and Appeal hearings at the request of interested parties with respect to certain administrative actions taken under various federal transportation Acts.

The objective of the program is to provide the transportation community with the opportunity to have enforcement and licensing decisions of the Minister of Transport reviewed by an independent body. The Minister's enforcement and licensing decisions may include the imposition of monetary penalties or the suspension, cancellation, refusal to renew or refusal to issue or amend documents of entitlement on medical or other grounds. The person or corporation affected is referred to as the document holder.

These decisions are reviewed through a two-level hearing process: Review and Appeal. All hearings are to be held expeditiously and informally, in accordance with the rules of fairness and natural justice.

At the conclusion of a hearing, the Tribunal may confirm the Minister's decision, substitute its own decision, or refer the matter back to the Minister for reconsideration.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

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Summary of Performance

2009–10 Financial Resources (thousands of dollars)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
1,337.0	1,788.8	1,416.9

2009–10 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
12	8	4

Strategic Outcome: The Canadian transportation community is provided with the opportunity to have enforcement and licensing decisions of the Minister of Transport reviewed by an independent body.

Performance Indicators	Targets	2009–10 Performance
% of disposition of review and appeal hearings within 90 days of request for a hearing.	100% decisions rendered within 90 days.	The average lapsed time between the conclusion of a Review Hearing and the issuance of a determination was on average 130 days for a review and 120 days for an Appeal Hearing. The increase in lapsed time was caused by the increased complexities of cases brought before the Tribunal.
% of hearing Members provided with training or refresher courses.	100% of hearing Members provided with training within 120 days of appointment.	During fiscal year 2009-2010, PCO appointed one Member to the Tribunal who was provided training. With the anticipated pending appointments of new Members, the Tribunal plans to hold an annual seminar in 2011. This will ensure that both staff and Members are apprised of recent developments in administrative law and transportation legislative issues.
% of registry staff provided with training.	100% of staff provided with training at fiscal year end.	As part of their learning plans, registry staff participated in the three-day training session.
% of decisions published on Web site.	100% of decisions are published on our Web site within 120 days of the hearing.	All decisions are published within 120 days of the hearing, as set out in our targets.* *Except for medical cases and in-camera hearings where information is kept confidential.

(Thousands of dollars)

Program Activity	2008–09 Actual Spending	2009–10[1]				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcome
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Review and Appeal Hearings	1,750.3	1,132.0	1,132.0	1,523.2	1,165.6	A safe and secure Canada The Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. Its clients currently are the aviation, rail and marine communities and Transport Canada. The Tribunal serves the transportation public by contributing to a safe and efficient oversight process for transportation safety and security in Canada.
Internal Services	-	205.0	205.0	265.6	263.6
Total	1,750.3	1,337.0	1,337.0	1,766.0	1,416.9

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

Operational Priorities	Type	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome
Hold hearings expeditiously and informally	Ongoing	The Tribunal mostly met expectations under this priority: By ensuring that services were available to informally resolve transportation-related disputes in a manner that is simple, rapid, less litigious and less costly; By ensuring that hearings were held expeditiously and informally; By the timely disposition of review and appeal hearings within service standards; By ensuring that hearings were being conducted in accordance with the rules of fairness and natural justice; By the use of pre-hearing conferences to streamline and expedite the hearing process; By the quality and consistency of decision-making.	To provide the Canadian transportation community with the opportunity to have administrative or enforcement actions under federal transportation Acts reviewed by an independent body. By reviewing ministerial decisions fairly, equitably and within a reasonable period of time. Average lapsed time between the conclusion of a review hearing and issuance of a determination is 70 days and 85 days for an appeal. Our target is set at 90 days as per our Performance Management Framework. The Tribunal encourages the use of pre-hearing conferences to assist parties to identify issues for determination and to disclose and exchange documents. This reduces the length of hearings and avoids last-minute adjournments necessitated by late disclosure.

Management Priorities	Type	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome(s)
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)	Previously committed to	The Tribunal successfully met all expectations under this priority. A BCP has been in place since 2007 and is reviewed on a yearly basis to ensure and maintain its business continuity plan readiness.	To provide the Canadian transportation community with the opportunity to have administrative or enforcement actions under federal transportation Acts reviewed by an independent body. Plans, measures and arrangements are in place to ensure the continuous delivery of critical services, permitting the organization to recover its data and assets in order to continue to provide the Canadian transportation community with the opportunity to have administrative or enforcement actions under federal transportation Acts reviewed by an independent body in the event of a business interruption.
Increase awareness of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada with respect to its mission, mandate, role and results achieved	Previously committed to	The Tribunal successfully met all expectations under this priority: Enhancements and improvements to the Tribunal Web site along with making 3500 decisions available to the public has increased awareness and provide better information among the transportation community and key stakeholders with respect to the Tribunal’s mandate and services.	To provide the Canadian transportation community with the opportunity to have administrative actions under federal transportation Acts reviewed by an independent body. Improved awareness and better information among the Transportation community and key stakeholders with respect to the Tribunal’s mandate, services and decisions.

Risk Analysis

As a micro-organization, the Tribunal’s main risk is the increased pressure on its resources from an increased and unpredictable workload, as well as the need to meet the obligations of government-wide horizontal initiatives. The Tribunal’s activities are driven by external demands that it can only react to rather than plan for.

Even though the demand for services has remained relatively stable, the Tribunal has had to manage ongoing increases in operating costs, such as the per diem(s) for Members, hearing rooms, court reporters, travel charges, information technology upgrades and translation costs, while its funding budget has remained stable.

It must be noted, however, that the most important risk is the number and skill set of Members available to conduct hearings. In order to deliver on our program, the Tribunal needs to have Members with the right mix of skills and talents in all three modes of transportation.

Expenditure Profile

Spending Trends (Thousands of dollars)

	2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
Planned Spending	1,433	1,660	1,132
Total Authorities	1,597	1,834	1,523.2
Actual Spending	1,523	1,749	1,165.6

For the 2007-2008 to the 2009-2010 periods, total authorities include all parliamentary appropriation: main estimates, supplementary estimates and carry-forward adjustments.

Funding in the amount of $98,000 was received to support the implementation of railway safety initiatives and to enhance the Grade Crossing Improvement Program. This initiative is in support of the Canada’s Economic Action Plan, under Action to Support Business and Communities. The funding was not utilized in the fiscal year as no Rail Members were appointed.

Voted and Statutory Items

(Thousands of dollars)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2007–08 Actual Spending	2008–09 Actual Spending	2009–10 Main Estimates	2009–10 Actual Spending
1	Operating expenditures	1,411.1	1,640.6	1,219.2	1,313.4
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	111.9	108.0	118.1	115.7
Total		1,523.0	1,748.6	1.337.3	1,429.1

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