Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has tried to keep it secret but the federal government quietly contributed $75 million to a settlement fund to compensate victims of the deadly 2013 Lac Mégantic rail disaster and protect itself from potential lawsuits, iPolitics has learned.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau, Transport Canada and Treasury Board President Scott Brison have all repeatedly refused to disclose how much the government paid into the settlement fund.

However, an investigation by iPolitics has found that Transport Canada’s most recent quarterly financial report as well as the Supplementary B Estimates tabled last December by Brison both list a $75 million “out of court settlement” among Transport Canada’s expenses.

Asked about the $75 million, former Conservative Transport Minister Lisa Raitt confirmed that it was for the Lac Mégantic settlement fund.

“There were 24 defendants in this and it was a matter, from my perspective, of ensuring that the victims received money before Christmas,” Raitt said. “That was our goal – that nothing would get tied up in big court proceedings.”

The alternative, she said, was to risk the federal government and the victims becoming embroiled in lengthy, and costly, court battles.

“In the summer, CP (Canadian Pacific Railway Company) decided that they weren’t going to be part of it and I was very concerned that we were going to lose this settlement and its opportunity in the bankruptcy court of the United States to deal with it as opposed to a very long, drawn out, multi-year class action litigation in Canada where the victims might end up having all their money eaten up by legal fees. How fair is that?”

Raitt said the deal was reached just before last year’s Oct. 19 federal election. She praised the justice department lawyers who recommended the government avoid lengthy court cases by resolving the issue through the U.S. bankruptcy proceedings.

The revelation of just how much the federal government contributed to the settlement fund comes more than two years after an oil train operated by the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway barreled down the tracks and derailed in the Quebec town of Lac Mégantic on July 6, 2013, sparking a blast that killed 47 people and caused millions of dollars in damage.

The disaster triggered a complicated and costly series of investigations and court actions on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border – including bankruptcy proceedings in two countries and an application for a class action suit.

The application for the class action suit filed by Montreal lawyer Jeff Orenstein included the federal government among the defendants, arguing it had been negligent in overseeing rail safety and the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway’s operations.

To date, much of the resolution of the legal fallout from the disaster has centred on the U.S. bankruptcy proceedings and the settlement fund set up by U.S. trustee Robert Keach. The federal government is among 25 contributors to the settlement fund which Keach says is worth an estimated $454 million Cdn.

Documents filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Maine show that the Canadian government and the other contributors were released from future claims that could have been filed against them in connection with the disaster in return for their contributions.

However, article 10.8 of the liquidation plan filed with the Maine bankruptcy court spells out that nothing in the agreement prevents the Canadian government or the Director of Public Prosecutions from pursuing any “fraud, criminal and quasi-criminal charges” in the future in connection with the disaster.

The one potential defendant that was not part of the settlement agreement was the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which has maintained it has no responsibility for the disaster. In November, the Quebec government filed suit against CP Rail for $409 million in damages, arguing that CP was negligent.

To date, three of the 25 contributors to the $454 million settlement fund have publicly announced how much they paid. The largest known contribution was from World Fuel Services, which announced in June 2015 that it would pay $110 million U.S ($138 million Cdn) into the compensation fund. Irving Oil paid $75 million and XL Insurance paid $25 million Cdn plus $5 million U.S.

However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has steadfastly refused to reveal how much the federal government contributed.

“The individual amount contributed by each party is protected by both the confidentiality provisions in the Agreement and by settlement privilege,” responded Natasha Gauthier, senior media relations advisor for Transport Canada.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Treasury Board President Scott Brison have also refused to answer questions from iPolitics about the contribution.

The settlement agreement the federal government reached with the U.S. bankruptcy trustee, like those reached with most other contributors, is sealed.

However, iPolitics has learned that the federal government quietly used money from its contingency fund last fall to make a $75-million payment in connection with a case involving Transport Canada. The authorization to replace the money in the contingency fund was contained in the Supplementary B estimates presented by Brison in December and approved by Parliament.

“Funding for an out of court settlement,” the government wrote under the category of Transport. “This allocation enables the department to make timely payments related to this legal obligation.”

The $75 million out of court settlement also appears in Transport Canada’s quarterly financial report for the period between Sept. 30, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015 – the time frame that matches Maine bankruptcy court Judge Peter Cary’s the approval of the trustee’s plan of liquidation, which included the settlement fund.

The department said its spending increased $75 million for an out of court settlement. Part of the money – $13 million – came from a difference in funding Transport Canada received for its operating budget and another $13 million from money set aside to pay for import duties related to the replacement of the MV Princess of Acadia ferry in the Maritimes.

The $75 million out of court settlement is the only one mentioned in the department’s quarterly reports for last year. In 2014, Transport Canada only paid $1.6 million in out of court settlements for the entire fiscal year.

Raitt says she doesn’t understand the Trudeau government’s secrecy and refusal to say how $75 million of taxpayer’s money was spent.

“There is no question I would make it public. We were very open and public all along the way with Lac Mégantic – be it being there with the province when we had to do the initial funding of certain things and being there for the clean up and all of the work that we did on rail with the mayor at the time.”

“This is something you don’t play coy on and Canadians want to know what the settlements were.”

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