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Transport Canada (TC) participated in the Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference (CMRSC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 8-11, 2011. The CMRSC was hosted by the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP), a national organization that has a diverse group of professionals involved in the research, management and delivery of road safety programmes in Canada. This conference is the main annual event in the road safety field in Canada. It helps TC advance the departmental objective of a safe transportation system, particularly by reducing road collisions and casualties.
This year, the focus of the conference was on traffic safety and practices, which coincided with Canada’s National Year of Road Safety 2011 and the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. The goal of the campaign is to reduce the number of road traffic deaths and injuries by asking drivers to take action to save lives on the world’s roads.
TC representatives were among 160 attendees including government departments, agencies and a broad range of road safety professionals from Canada and around the world. Together, road safety professionals from diverse disciplines shared a wide variety of knowledge, expertise and ideas to build a safer future for road safety.
On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, the United Nation’s Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 (the “Decade”) was launched world-wide. To launch the Decade in Canada, a representative of the World Health Organization made a presentation at the conference and the CN Tower in Toronto was illuminated in colours designating the Decade. To further support the launch, TC distributed the Road Safety in Canada report to road safety professionals. This report was prepared in collaboration with Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The purpose of the report is to provide road safety professionals with information to assist them in promoting road safety and to encourage the commitment of all Canadians to Rethink Road Safety.
The day also included an update from Kim Benjamin, Director, Road Safety Programs, about Canada’s Year of Road Safety. In addition, Paul Boase, Chief, Road Users, did a presentation on Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2015.
During the four-day conference, participants had a chance to witness presentations from a broad range of guest speakers including TC employees Meghan Provost and Jean-Louis Comeau. In addition, TC employees Anick Potvin and Rola Alsayegh participated in the tradeshow to inform attendees about TC’s Year of Road Safety initiatives and to distribute TC’s road safety publications. The tradeshow included other organizations, such as the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Bolland Driving Solutions and Arrive-Alive.
In all, the event raised awareness of, and the work needed towards Canada’s involvement in the Year (2011), the Strategy (2011-15) and the Decade (2011-2020).