Transport committee  I think we could certainly provide that.

Transport committee  Keith has more experience in that than I do.

Transport committee  My view is that the safety management system has made us better. Unfortunately, in 2005, we had a couple of very high-profile incidents, and a lot of attention has come on to the railways and CN. We understand that. It goes back to some of the perception. I think we have demonstrated that the trends--except in 2005 and the beginning of 2007, unfortunately--are going in the right direction.

Transport committee  Again, others can speak. I'm sorry, Mr. Jean, you didn't refer to me, but I'll speak.

Transport committee  I think we followed the process. Unfortunately, there were some great exceptions on our part to how the report was being, first of all, put together, relative to some of these aspects. We were in contact all the time. There were deadlines, yes, but we felt strongly that it was important for our view and our facts to be brought forward.

Transport committee  We have an emergency preparedness and response plan.

Transport committee  Across the network we have people who are trained. We do not have a central team specifically assigned to go to any location. We have people across the country who are skilled in this. We also have resources available to us in head office in Montreal, depending on the severity, that will come out and help.

Transport committee  Sure.

Transport committee  We have a director of dangerous goods--which Mr. Creel referred to in his opening remarks--who is specifically assigned to dangerous commodities. There are dangerous commodity officers throughout the network who are highly skilled and trained in dangerous commodities specifically.

Transport committee  The safety management system is a system, but it's very much a framework. There are components within the safety management system, including measurement and investigation. We work hand in hand with Transport on that. It's not a mandate as much as it is a cooperative effort. The safety audit was Transport Canada's way of going out to the field with CN and CP and the other railroads and determining whether the system itself was being put into place.

Transport committee  I don't have the exact numbers, and I can't speak for Transport Canada, but I will give you my experience, which is that they have looked at trying to understand the safety management system and be out on the property with their inspectors. And their focus is on compliance with the safety management system, because again, the safety management system is more of a framework; we put the specifics against it.

Transport committee  I don't believe so. Again, I would--

Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  I was at Lillooet. There was one car.

Transport committee  No, I understand. It's incorrect, and that's probably why we're here: to make sure we have facts on the table. I appreciate that.