Agriculture committee  That's a concern that's been expressed by the railways around a hypothetical provision of this sort, yes.

Agriculture committee  That concern was expressed by the government at the time that Bill C-52 was being considered, that paradoxically perhaps these sorts of penalties through arbitration might work against shippers in getting full compensation for liquidated damages.

Agriculture committee  It goes to an earlier round of questioning.

Agriculture committee  It seems highly precise. Again, the choice of 160 was ultimately a policy decision. But there was, I think, a desire when we were looking at the interest switching provisions and at extending them for a period of two years, extending the limits to ensure maximum opportunity for competition and for additional railway service to come into support grain farmers on the Prairies.

Agriculture committee  Probably the best way of explaining the impact of 160 as opposed to the other number is to provide you with a map which shows the difference between 130 and 160 and shows how you get full coverage across the Prairies. I think some of the members may already have it.

Agriculture committee  We can certainly provide a copy of that map to the committee.

Agriculture committee  There's just maybe a nuance. The service level agreements as you note are voluntary in the sense that the two parties are invited to negotiate them on a commercial basis. But it's important to note that the Fair Rail Freight Service Act and the changes to the CTA provide the shipper with the option to have a service level agreement, SLA, arbitrated if they can't negotiate one.

Agriculture committee  There is not another regime where liquidated damages are set by an arbitrator in advance as part of an arbitrated agreement.

Agriculture committee  Highly accelerated regulatory processes can be very quick, but I would not want to quantify how fast.

Agriculture committee  I should probably clarify that the assessment of the MRE's impact, not surprisingly, varies depending on whether you speak to shippers or railways.

Agriculture committee  This is probably one of the reasons that, given the complexity of the formula and the divergence of views, a more careful look at the issue through a consultative process is appropriate.

Agriculture committee  I should probably preface the answer on this by saying that there hasn't been a formal decision on timelines, and ultimately, a decision on how much to attempt to accelerate the process would rest with ministers, not with officials. The regulatory process, as I think all members know, follows a number of normal stages.

Agriculture committee  I would make a couple of points. With respect to the order in council, the legislation actually does two things specifically that are connected to the order in council that was issued. First of all, it extends the million tonnes per week requirement from the automatic expiry date of 90 days after the order was issued through to the end of the crop year.

Agriculture committee  The MRE is actually set through a fairly complex formula, which is in the legislation but is actually set on an annual basis by the Canadian Transportation Agency. The purpose of the MRE is to manage, to limit, the amount of revenue that a railway can make per tonne, per amount of grain moved.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair, with your permission, may I request a clarification? In terms of your first question, Mr. Eyking, you said a cost review for the system. Are you referring to the transportation system? Could you clarify that?