Parliament will hold six days of hearings in the coming months on whether communities are protected enough from spills and fires caused by transporting dangerous goods via rail.

On Dec. 10, Taylor Bachrach, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP, questioned Transport Canada's top officials. The department is responsible for policies concerning rail safety and the transport of these materials.

鈥淚 was shocked by their inability to answer basic questions,鈥� said Bachrach. 鈥淧eople in communities like Terrace and Smithers [in B.C.] see trains full of dangerous goods sitting in the heart of their communities and deserve to know what the plan is.鈥�

According to the Railway Association of Canada, dangerous goods such as "essential chemicals and petroleum products, used for everything from purifying the water we drink to heating our homes and fuelling our vehicles," travel across the country every day via rail.

The officials were asked questions about the emergency response capacity of communities, whether residents can be evacuated quickly enough and why emergency plans and risk assessments are confidential.

鈥淭his is not meant to create fear,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, I鈥檓 increasingly concerned the federal government is asleep at the switch. It shouldn鈥檛 take a major disaster to spur government action 鈥� we can ask the tough questions now and push for adequate regulations and resources. The price of adequate protection must not be the lives of our neighbours.鈥�

The committee will hear testimony from the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs on Thursday, Dec.12. The hearings will continue in late January.