In 2013Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada, the Auditor General examined whether Transport Canada has adequately overseen the management of rail safety risks by federal railways. The report concluded that "Transport Canada needs to address significant weaknesses in its oversight of safety management systems implemented by federal railway companies to manage safety risks on a day-to-day basis." Following the derailment of a train carrying crude oil tankers at Lac-Mégantic, Québec in July 2013, which killed 47 people and decimated the town's centre, the safety of shipping crude oil by rail has come under intense scrutiny. →Read more

This article was reproduced with permission of the publisher from BarTalk, February 2014 edition.