Report: Canada Railway Audit Inadequate Before Lac-Megantic Disaster

"Transport Canada knew about some of the problems at MMA, but the follow-up wasn't always there. Instead, the focus was on making sure railway companies had a safety management system, not how they were using it," she said.

"Transport Canada didn't audit railways often enough and thoroughly enough to know how those companies were really managing - or not managing - risks," she told a news conference.

The report could be politically damaging for the Conservative government, which is trailing far behind in the polls ahead of a federal election scheduled for October 2015.

Asked whether a similar disaster could happen again, TSB Chief Operating Officer Jean Laporte replied: "Unfortunately, right now, there are risks that that could happen."

An official watchdog said last November that Canadian officials were not doing enough to ensure rail safety.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, pressed as to why her ministry had not shut down MMA before the disaster, said that was a matter for her bureaucrats to deal with.

She deflected repeated questions about government accountability and her own responsibility. Raitt, who did not receive the TSB report ahead of time, said she and her ministry would study it closely.


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