Alliance lays siege on feds (October 25, 2001)

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OTTAWA, Ont. — The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) took to Parliament Hill recently, with no less than three appearances before influential departmental and parliamentary committees.

First, CTA’s chief executive officer, David Bradley, and vice-president of policy and research, Ron Lennox, appeared before the heads of delegation of the NAFTA Land Transportation Standards Sub-Committee in Ottawa.

The message delivered to the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican representatives was clear from CTA’s testimony.

“Some might argue that the irritants stemming from a lack of compatibility in trucking industry safety and other technical standards look insignificant in comparison (to the events of September 11),” reads the presentation. “However, we believe that such irritants and incompatibilities, could take on even more significance in this new reality.”

Second, Lennox joined CTA senior vice-president Graham Cooper in appearing before the Standing Committee on Industry to push for an amendment to Bill C-23, an act to amend the Competition Act. One of the criticisms of the current act is that the Competition Bureau is so limited in its resources that it can only deal with issues of major national impact.

“Private rights of access would deal with those situations, primarily between buyers and sellers, that are largely private and which otherwise are not likely to be picked up on the radar, or be an efficient use of the resources, of the Competition Bureau,” the group testified. “This, we believe, would help level the playing field, particularly for small business.”

And finally, Bradley and CTA vice-president of public affairs, Massimo Bergamini, were back on the Hill, before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

In its presentation to the committee, CTA stated, “(Canadian domestic security initiatives) should be developed as part of a larger bilateral strategy whose ultimate goal is a more secure but also more efficient border.”

CTA recommended the creation of a cabinet position, Minister Responsible for Border Security and Efficiency.

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