Yeah, the conductor just repeats back the engineer's call.
BTW, the Via model overall works pretty well. It is especially good that there is an actual service manager (and an assistant service manager) on the train, that the whole OBS crew is responsible to. I think that is one of the things that makes Via's onboard service both better and MUCH more consistent than Amtrak's.
On Amtrak, while technically the conductor is the "captain of the ship" when it comes to OBS crew service level, they simply generally do not want to be involved. For one thing, the T&E crews are in a different reporting chain, for another, they cycle on and off over the course of the trip.
I am not sure what the impact to safety is, though, if any. They don't do things like repeat signals, remind the conductor of upcoming slow orders and work gangs, or anything having to do with the operation of the train, other than confirming to the engineer that the train is buttoned up and ready to depart at station stops.