Thank you, Chair. I would like to thank the panel members for coming here.
When I come here, I come with mixed emotions. When we talk about railways, I'm a great champion of the Pacific gateway. The railways will play a key role in its success. Yet I have a clear message for you here.
I don't think the safety effort is perfect, but you say it's great. The people I talk to, whether they're workers or members of the public, feel that it's not good enough. Over the past five years, you have averaged 139 main-track derailments, 24 of which involved dangerous goods. Many of these accidents were preventable. Too often I hear that your operations are attended with mistrust instead of collaboration, with good equipment but poor training, and with concern for profit over safety. This culture needs to change. CP Railways will not only be better for the environment, the public, and its workers, but they will also be more profitable for shareholders.
There's one incident in B.C. that no one can forget—the spill of caustic soda into the Cheakamus River, which killed over 500,000 fish. Two years later, the Transportation Safety Board warned CN that improvements were still not enough to prevent another similar incident.
Have you finally addressed all the problems that led to that spill?