Agriculture committee  The cost would simply be passed through to the shippers of goods. We handle our fuel charges through a surcharge; as the price of fuel goes up and down, people who use our services pay more or less for those goods to be shipped. My feeling is that if there were a carbon tax, it would simply be more expensive to ship goods.

Agriculture committee  In terms of the condition of rural roads, roads are a provincial responsibility, but we've always felt that the federal government could do a better job of allocating the diesel fuel tax to highway infrastructure through federal-provincial agreements with the provinces. The current tax is 4¢ per litre.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. We have ten provinces as well as the territories. They all set their own weight and dimension limits, for example. It does make it complicated for the trucking industry. We also obviously operate cross-border, so we have to deal with U.S. limits. So yes, there's a whole slew of things on the trucking side that are inconsistent from one part of the country to another.

Agriculture committee  We already do have special lanes reserved for truckers. At all but the smallest of border crossings, there is commercial processing and then there's passenger processing. They are separate. In addition to that, I spoke of cards issued under the free and secure trade program. They're meant to expedite the flow of frequent trade across the border by known entities.

Agriculture committee  First of all, in terms of our own industry, what we have been saying for quite some time is that we weren't overly concerned about our own preparedness for June 1 and the introduction of this passport or other document requirement. Our members have been preparing for it. We've known about this for well over a year, and frankly, any trucking company that sends a driver to the border who is not prepared is really their own worst enemy right now.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I can send something to the clerk by the end of the day.

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and committee members. My name is Ron Lennox. I'm a vice-president with the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the federation of Canada's provincial trucking associations, representing some 4,500 carriers and trucking industry suppliers nationwide. I very much appreciate the opportunity to participate in your study on the competitiveness of the Canadian agrifood industry.

International Trade committee  As you have pointed out, it's only in B.C. that we've even reached the stage of a pilot project. I can speak only for the trucking industry, and we haven't promoted it very heavily within our membership. It seems like a good option, but as an industry we feel that we are prepared with the options we have before us.

International Trade committee  Some of these things are local, as David alluded to. I'll give you an example. A process took place a couple of years ago--I think it was called “The 25% Challenge”--at Detroit-Windsor, the busiest border crossing in the world. It wasn't about big ideas and grand schemes for moving trade across the border.

Transport committee  No, but despite that fact we still have multiple different types of clearances out there. I support them in doing that. We'd love to come up with a simplier system, but I'm not aware of any major leap forward that would get us to where we want to be.

Transport committee  We're certainly aware, Mr. Kennedy, that those discussions are taking place. They have been taking place for a number of years now.

Transport committee  Certainly for other security programs that have been rolled out post-9/11, the expectation is always that the employer, the carrier in this case, provides that training to its employees. Again, our issue is not that there would be a requirement for training, but rather that if an employee is already trained, he or she not be subject to a second or third set of training requirements.

Transport committee  We have expressed concerns over the last number of years to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Canada Border Services Agency about the transparency of the review process on FAST cards. It's a very legitimate concern, and you're absolutely right to raise it. Unfortunately, it's a process that we're stuck with if we want to get our drivers into the U.S. today, tomorrow, and next week.

Transport committee  Yes, I would suggest that. Again, for drivers who operate domestically, I don't think they should have to apply. But if they have been screened by the federal government for security reasons already, I don't think putting them through a second process is a good use of the government's money, or carriers' money.

Transport committee  First of all, as I think one of us has mentioned already, any Canadian truck driver who is hauling dangerous goods into the United States right now is already security cleared--that would be tens of thousands of drivers who are already security cleared. But there are going to be drivers operating domestically who will have to be security cleared if this bill passes and we subsequently get regulations to put it into effect.