Justice committee  First of all, to the first question, clearly, transit systems across the country have taken many of these measures. I think probably the one that's the most common right now is the installation of surveillance cameras. They are a deterrent to some extent, and they certainly also provide evidence in the case of incidents that can be consulted after the fact.

Justice committee  I would just add that there have been other bills about this previously, of course. However, this one is the most balanced in terms of the situations and the dangers people face each day. Clearly, each assault is one too many. You rightly pointed out the importance of conducting an advertising and awareness campaign, after the bill is passed, to clearly communicate what it contains across Canada, aimed also at authorities in all jurisdictions.

Justice committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Distinguished members of the committee, my remarks will be equally brief. First of all, I would like to thank you for this invitation to appear before you. We are grateful for the opportunity to express our opinion on Bill S-221, the aim of which is to have assaults against public transit operators considered as an aggravating factor in sentencing.

Finance committee  Yes, it's primarily any federally funded transit procurement in the United States, and most of that is rolling stock.

Finance committee  Not a systematic one, but we've certainly been told anecdotally that any significant change, any significant increase in U.S. content requirements, could be enough to tip the balance so that the existing Canadian manufacturers would leave and move their production entirely to the U.S.

Finance committee  Absolutely. That's a great question, too. We've done our homework on this and we've looked around in terms of other models of research consortia that have worked well in the past. We're modelling this one on a very successful one in Quebec called Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec, CRIAQ.

Finance committee  That's an excellent question, and a very good point. Absolutely. I think the key integration between infrastructure and land use is the number one priority in maximizing the return on investment. Linking the selection of the network and the technology to the demand and to the development plans of a community is critical in generating that return, which is why I would say that if we have a policy framework in place, at some point that linkage to urban development is critical from the get-go.

Finance committee  Clearly, making the P3s in our sector more attractive is a step in the right direction. One of the recommendations we had of increasing the maximum federal share from 25% to the usual one-third would be a big step in that direction.

Finance committee  We're really not sure, because this new consortium is something that's just been created in the last month. The reason for having it here, really, is to let you know that we are starting this new consortium, this new partnership, and we're looking to the government to be one of the partners.

Finance committee  First of all, I should say that we'd prefer to have real free trade.

Finance committee  We have this situation where in particular public transit rolling stock are subject, or those that are federally funded in the U.S. are subject, to the 60% U.S. content and final assembly rule, which was in place even before the NAFTA was negotiated. When you look at the success of the Canadian manufacturing industry, the two go hand in hand in trying to find a way to keep the lid on that 60%, because our supply chain is so integrated across North America and so much effort has gone into complying with that 60%, and at the same time supporting the R and D and the innovation that our industry needs to be doing here in Canada in order to stay at the cutting edge.

Finance committee  The first challenge is to build a community that brings together the private sector, transit networks, universities and government. That is the idea behind the new not-for-profit consortium that was just approved by Industry Canada. In the coming months, we will establish a board of directors that represents the interests of the various stakeholders to determine the degree to which a true consensus exists as to the next steps.

Finance committee  I'll start with the last question. In Canada, we have a very rich history in terms of public transit innovation and manufacturing. The vast majority of bus manufacturers, as well as rail manufacturers, have long been based in Canada. The industry has grown accustomed to complying with the U.S. standards as far as 60% American content and final assembly in the U.S. are concerned.

Finance committee  First of all, just to put the question in context—

Finance committee  Let's put the question in context. It really depends on how you define a strategy. Different countries have different approaches to how they support public transit, be it through funding policies or other mechanisms. So that makes it really tough to say which countries have a strategy and which ones don't.