ARCHIVED - Transportation Safety Board of Canada

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Chair's Message

As the Chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, I am pleased to present you with its Report on Plans and Priorities for 2008-2009.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) enjoys a solid reputation, nationally and internationally, as a technically skilled and professional investigative organization. As one of only a few agencies in the world investigating air, marine, rail and pipeline occurrences, the TSB pursues its mandate within a framework of independence that makes it a global leader in that regard.

The public expects safety deficiencies in the transportation system to be identified and corrected. With these expectations in mind, this year, the Board members will continue to play a significant role with stakeholders and industry to increase the visibility of TSB’s conclusions and recommendations. They will also ensure that they are well understood by those who can influence greater change.

These ongoing efforts will ultimately mitigate the risks and improve the safety of the Canadian transportation system. Program staff will also play a key role in achieving this goal by doing everything possible to improve the organization’s performance, its productivity, and its ability to identify and communicate safety deficiencies in a timely manner.

The agency must also focus on continuously improving its management practices. Accordingly, the TSB will invest in various projects and initiatives to support priorities in this area, and work on improving business and report production processes. It will also continue strengthening the investigation and information management system to improve its performance and maintain its viability over the long term.

Finally, the TSB will further its work to implement an electronic records management system, improve the management of financial and material resources and continue building on human resources planning initiatives.

The TSB is fully committed to making a significant contribution to transportation safety in Canada and abroad. Through these sustained efforts, it will ensure that products and services, as well as business activities, remain effective and efficient for the delivery of its mandate.

Section 1 - Overview

1.1 Management Representation Statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament the 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide to the Preparation of Part III of the 2008-2009 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports::

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat guidance;
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• It is based on the department’s strategic outcome and program activities that were approved by the Treasury Board;
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• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;
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• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
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• It reports finances based on approved planned spending numbers from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

___________________________
Wendy A. Tadros

1.2 Raison d'être

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is an independent agency created in 1990 by an Act of Parliament (Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act). It operates at arm’s length from other government departments and agencies such as Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the National Energy Board to ensure that there are no real or perceived conflicts of interest. The TSB’s only objective is the advancement of transportation safety. This mandate is fulfilled by conducting independent investigations into transportation occurrences. The purpose is to identify the causes and contributing factors of the occurrences and the safety deficiencies evidenced by an occurrence. The TSB then makes recommendations to improve safety and reduce or eliminate risks to people, property and the environment.

A transportation occurrence is any accident or incident associated with the operation of an aircraft, ship, railway rolling stock, or pipeline. It also includes any hazard that could, in the Board's judgement, induce an accident or incident if left unattended.

The jurisdiction of the TSB includes all marine, pipeline, rail or aviation transportation occurrences in or over Canada that fall under federal jurisdiction. The TSB may also represent Canadian interests in foreign investigations of transportation accidents involving Canadian registered, licensed or manufactured ships, railway rolling stock or aircraft. In addition, the TSB carries out some of Canada's obligations related to transportation safety at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

1.3 Organizational Information

The TSB’s Program Activity Architecture focuses on a single strategic outcome: the mitigation of risks to the safety of the transportation system through independent accident investigations, and four program activities: air investigations, marine investigations, rail investigations and pipeline investigations. The TSB reports to Parliament through the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. The Chair of the TSB has final responsibility for managing the organization and fulfilling its mandate, and is supported by the Executive Director and Board Members.

The Chair contributes to program activities in the four transportation sectors by providing overall strategic direction and ensuring that the TSB is managed in a consistent and effective manner. She oversees management and administration powers and functions that she delegates to the Executive Director as well as the tasks she assigns to the Board Members.

The Executive Director, as delegated chief administrator of operations, provides departmental leadership and oversees the integrity of all investigation-related activities, daily management, operations and administration of the TSB.

Both the Chair and the Executive Director contribute to program activities by establishing strategic alliances with key stakeholders, client groups and change agents, and by communicating key safety messages through stakeholder outreach activities.

The Executive Director is supported by two Directors General. The Director General, Investigation Operations, manages all operational activities for the four programs, and the Director General, Corporate Services, delivers a full range of corporate services in support of the Department’s operations.

1.4 Financial Resources

In 2007-2008, Treasury Board approved amendments to TSB’s Program Activity Architecture in response to comments by the Treasury Board Secretariat in its 2006 assessment of the Department against the Management Accountability Framework. The amendments take effect during the current fiscal year and are aimed primarily at clarifying TSB’s strategic outcome by reducing the overlap with other departments and facilitating the measurement of the organization’s results. The amendments are also intended to better align the old program activity with the current reporting format, which is based on the various transportation sectors investigated by the TSB.

The following table shows how the financial resources of the old program activity were redistributed among TSB’s four new program activities.

Table 1: Program Activity Architecture Crosswalk

2008-2009
Old Program Activity thousands of dollars	New Program Activity 1	New Program Activity 2	New Program Activity 3	New Program Activity 4
Safety Investigarions	Air Investigarions	Marine Investigarions	Rail Investigarions	Pipeline Investigarions
28,983	15,941	6,376	6,086	580

The following tables contain detailed information on planned spending for the financial and human resources allocated to TSB activities over the next three years. The TSB’s current reference levels, as shown in the Main Estimates, are approximately 29 million dollars again this year. TSB funding is expected to remain relatively stable over the next three fiscal years.

Table 2: Departmental Planned Spending and Full-time Equivalents

($ thousands)	Forecast Spending 2007-2008 (1)	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010	Planned Spending 2010-2011
Air Investigations	15,935	15,941	15,924	15,924
Marine Investigations	6,374	6,376	6,370	6,370
Rail Investigations	6,084	6,086	6,080	6,080
Pipeline Investigations	579	580	579	579
Total Main Estimates	28,972	28,983	28,953	28,953
Adjustments:    - Supplementary Estimates(2)	1,274
Other Adjustments:    - Treasury Board Vote 15(3)	2,108
Total Planned Spending	31,080	28,983	28,953	28,953
Total Plus: Cost of services without charge	3,532	3,497	3,520	3,542
Total Departmental Spending	34,612	32,480	32,473	32,495
Full-Time Equivalents	2342	235	235	235

(1) Reflects best forecast of total planned spending to the end of the fiscal year.
(2) This amoutn reflects a carry forward from the 2006-2007 operational budget.
(3) These adjustments reflect the authorities received to offset collective bargaining increases.

Table 3: Voted and Statutory Items Listed in the Main Estimates

($ thousands)
Voted or Statutory Item	Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board	2008-2009 Main Estimates	2007-2008 Main Estimates
10	Program Expenditures	25,589	25,415
(S)	Contribution to employee benefit plan	3,394	3,557
	Total	28,983	28,972

1.5 Summary Inforamation

1.5.1 Resources

The two tables below show information on planned utilization of financial and human resources over the coming three-year period.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
28,983	28,953	28,953

Human Resources

2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
235 FTE	235 FTE	235 FTE

FTE = full-time equivalent

1.5.2 Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

The following table provides an overview of TSB’s strategic outcome supported by the four program activities, and a link to the Government of Canada outcome, as well as a summary of planned spending for each program activity over the next three years.

Link to the Government of Canada Outcome: Safe and secure communities
TSB Strategic Outcome: The mitigation of risks to the safety of the transportation system through independent accident investigations
Program Activities	Planned Spending ($ dollars)
	2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
Air Investigations	15,941	15,924	15,924
Marine Investigations	6,376	6,370	6,370
Rail Investigations	6,086	6,080	6,080
Pipeline Investigations	580	579	579
Total Main Estimates	28,983	28,953	28,953

1.5.3 2008-2009 Priorities

To achieve optimum results for our program activities, and maximize resource use, this year, the investigation branches will focus as a priority on improving their productivity and the effectiveness of their safety communications.

We have also identified four management priorities aimed at improving our practices, controls, or infrastructure in various areas supporting our operations. The following table gives an overview of these priorities and planned spending for each.

Management Priorities	Type	Planned Spending ($)
Priority 1: Implementation of the Recommendations Retained from the A-Base Budget Review	Previously committed	100,000
Priority 2: Maintaining a Knowledgeable and Professional Workforce	Previously committed	250,000
Priority 3: Report Production	Previously committed	100,000
Priority 4: Continuing the Residual Work in the Area of Information Management	Previously committed	241,000
Total		691,000

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