Canada Transportation Act — C-10.4 116
Complaint and investigation concerning company’s obligations 116 (1) On receipt of a complaint made by any person that a railway company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency shall (a) conduct, as expeditiously as possible, an investigation of the complaint that, in its opinion, is warranted; and (b) within 90 days after receipt of the complaint, determine whether the company is fulfilling that obligation. Time limits (1.1) For the purpose of an investigation conducted under subsection (1), the Agency shall allow a company at least 20 days to file an answer and at least 10 days for a complainant to file a reply. Agency’s own motion (1.11) The Agency may, with the authorization of the Minister and subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate, of its own motion, conduct an investigation to determine whether a railway company is fulfilling its service obligations. The Agency shall conduct the investigation as expeditiously as possible and make its determination within 90 days after the investigation begins. Considerations (1.2) The Agency shall determine that a company is fulfilling its service obligations if it is satisfied that the company provides the highest level of service in respect of those obligations that it can reasonably provide in the circumstances, having regard to the following considerations: (a) the traffic to which the service obligations relate; (b) the reasonableness of the shipper’s requests with respect to the traffic; (c) the service that the shipper requires with respect to the traffic; (d) any undertaking with respect to the traffic given by the shipper to the company; (e) the company’s and the shipper’s operational requirements and restrictions; (f) the company’s obligations, if any, with respect to a public passenger service provider; (g) the company’s obligations in respect of the operation of the railway under this Act; (h) the company’s contingency plans to allow it to fulfil its service obligations when faced with foreseeable or cyclical events; and (i) any information that the Agency considers relevant. Confidential contract binding on Agency (2) If a company and a shipper agree, by means of a confidential contract, on the manner in which service obligations under section 113 are to be fulfilled by the company, the terms of that agreement are binding on the Agency in making its determination. Long-haul interswitching order binding on Agency (3) If a long-haul interwitching order has been made under subsection 134(1), the terms established by the order that are related to the manner in which the local carrier is to fulfil its service obligations are binding on the Agency in making its determination. Orders of Agency (4) If the Agency determines that a company is not fulfilling any of its service obligations, the Agency may (a) order that (i) specific works be constructed or carried out, (ii) property be acquired, (iii) cars, motive power or other equipment be allotted, distributed, used or moved as specified by the Agency, or (iv) any specified steps, systems or methods be taken or followed by the company; (b) specify in the order the maximum charges that may be made by the company in respect of the matter so ordered; (c) order the company to fulfil that obligation in any manner and within any time or during any period that the Agency deems expedient, having regard to all proper interests, and specify the particulars of the obligation to be fulfilled; (c.1) order the company to compensate any person adversely affected for any expenses that they incurred as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations or, if the company is a party to a confidential contract with a shipper that requires the company to pay an amount of compensation for expenses incurred by the shipper as a result of the company’s failure to fulfil its service obligations, order the company to pay that amount to the shipper; (d) if the service obligation is in