TORONTO, Ont. — Transport Canada is holding several public consultation sessions between now and October to review legislation governing the transport of dangerous goods.

The first session was chaired by the Honourable Jim Karygiannis, P.C., M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, and was held at the Scarborough Civic Centre.

The consultations are being held as part of the government’s commitment to review the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992 after it had been in place for 10 years. The review began in 2002 and focused on security issues in response to the events of September 11, 2001, but has now been extended to cover all aspects of the Act.

Transport Canada is conducting the review in cooperation with industry, and provincial and territorial governments. The provinces and territories work in concert with Transport Canada to enforce transportation of dangerous goods requirements on the highway. Transport Canada conducts enforcement in other modes of transport and leads in the development of dangerous goods regulations in the transportation sector.

“When it comes to transporting dangerous goods, public safety is the Government of Canada’s number one priority and this Act is a key element in helping to ensure that safety,” said Karygiannis. “Consultations are being held to involve our partners and to get their views on how we can improve the Act and, in turn, further enhance public safety.”

There are approximately 30,000,000 shipments of dangerous goods in Canada each year and over 99 per cent of them occur without incident.