Transport committee  I am not saying there has been no maintenance, but there has been virtually none on the section I am talking about. That can be checked. The issue since July has been the MMA line. Speeds have had to be reduced to 10 miles an hour on increasing numbers of lines over the past 10

Transport committee  Pardon me, but I did not clearly understand your first question. Yes, you are absolutely right: we are making good progress. There has to be communication between the government and the railway industry, which was not previously the case. We all have to be able to speak to one a

Transport committee  I do not think that question, which concerns transloading, should be addressed to me. Mr. Tweed is in fact the safety expert. Your question seemed to focus more on that point. We, both FCM and the municipality, have not worked on the principle of transloading. That file does not

Transport committee  The Fédération québécoise des municipalités is definitely requesting it. It may also be a good idea to define what is meant by "in real time". The point is not necessarily to know that the train will be coming through in five minutes and that it is transporting a particular quan

Transport committee  I am going to be frank on this question: I think it is very difficult. We know that our communities, in many places, were built around the railways. It is hard to imagine how the railways could be made to bypass them. Even in the extraordinary case of Lac-Mégantic, if you manag

Transport committee  We already know there was a plan. For the line I am talking about, the MMA line, there was indeed a plan. The third party was subsidized at the time, but the company did not even take that money to do the work. That is what I resent. It is all the more shocking to think that the

Transport committee  I still think it is too bad that was a joke. I use that analogy to make people laugh, but it is unfortunate. You are right. It is so illogical to think that way. Roads are used by cars, vehicles that are far less dangerous, present fewer risks and can brake more quickly, and yet

Transport committee  I entirely agree, as does the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. When regulations are made, the principle of reciprocity should always apply. If we do not want railway lines to be closer to houses, those houses should not be located near railway lines. There is no justificati

Transport committee  It is clear in my mind that railways are not part of the local road system. The situation has to be considered from a provincial or Canadian standpoint. We want the railways to be significantly upgraded because we believe in the railway sector over the long term. If we remove tru

Transport committee  I also belong to FCM. I sit on its board. I represent the Fédération québécoise des municipalités to FCM. The Fédération québécoise des municipalités represents more than 1,000 municipalities. What exactly is your question?

Transport committee  David Marit is also an FCM member and he may have his own views on the matter. In my opinion, the problem is not that FCM has agreed that information may be communicated to us after trains have passed through. What FCM said about this issue was that we had just taken a step in t

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I am proud to be here as a mayor and as the person responsible for the Eastern Townships region. I would like to discuss several points with you today. I quite agree with the previous speakers who said that what we were resolving was not the Lac