Transport committee  Yes. Thank you for the question. It's definitely a very hot employment market right now. We have managed to maintain our staffing levels at essentially the same level as we did a year ago. We have a very aggressive hiring plan this year. Some of the issues are that we are hiring in a lot of small communities.

Transport committee  Thank you for that question, Mr. Rogers. Fuel obviously represents a significant cost for us at the railway, so it does have an impact on our business and on our customers' shipments for sure. We're watching it very closely and doing our best to protect ourselves and our customers from the rising costs that are associated with fuel.

Transport committee  I would add, if I may, that certainly CP supports any infrastructure projects that improve supply chain capacity, efficiency and resiliency, and many of the projects that are being applied for under the NTCF are exactly around these areas. I can't really comment on whether things have improved or degraded, but I would say that our perspective is that there does need to be a greater sense of urgency.

Transport committee  It was flooding and fires. Yes.

Transport committee  Certainly the movement of fertilizer is very important for our Canadian producers and for U.S. producers as well for the potash that's moving out of Canada. It's important for the world because so much of the potash that the world needs is going to come from Canada. Any steps the government can take to ensure that Canadian potash and fertilizers remain viable and can move in and out of the country easily are very important.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, I am Joan Hardy, vice-president of sales and marketing, grain and fertilizers at Canadian Pacific. I appreciate the opportunity to share CP's perspective. The first point I would make is that there is no one single supply chain in Canada. Each commodity has its own unique, interdependent and complex supply chain that links the producer with the final end-user.

Agriculture committee  Yes, we're very pleased that we've been able to order our cars from National Steel Car. It's great to keep the construction in Canada. It's a very efficient pipeline for getting the cars into service. Keeping it Canadian has been really good for us, and we're hoping to be able to keep much of our 5,900 car acquisition in Canada as well.

Agriculture committee  The concern, certainly, was raised because of safety. The employees who were doing the loading felt that it was not a safe operation. What I understand is that there is a new system that's been developed using guardrails that will go around the feeder holes, and that training is under way.

Agriculture committee  Let me just explain this. The grain, when it gets to the port, comes out of the railcars and goes into the terminal elevators. The loading into the ships is really not a railroad issue. This is an issue at the terminals. I'm only explaining it because it is something that can impact the supply chains.

Agriculture committee  Just this fall, some of the major terminals we're servicing finally shifted to 24-7 operation. That is a game-changer. As the railways, we have been encouraging 24-7 operation for a long time. As soon as you have a day when you're not unloading, it creates bumps in the supply chain.

Agriculture committee  We are spending $1.6 billion this year on capital, which is a 20% increase over our spend last year. I mentioned already that half a billion of that is going into hopper cars, which are going to significantly improve the efficiency and capacity for the movement of grain. This year, we have also extended 11 sidings across western Canada, making the sidings longer to allow for more capacity and longer trains to meet each other.

Agriculture committee  Sure. Go ahead, Mike.

Agriculture committee  Yes, as Mike said, safety is the absolute most important component when we're dealing with our employees. We're very cognizant of the limitations on hours of work that they can put in. We have a 7% increase year over year in our total labour force, so we have increased the number of people we have available to work, which allows us to, obviously, handle more volume than we handled in the past, but we are certainly always focused on safety.

Agriculture committee  Sure. I'm happy to do that. First of all, when private cars come into our network, they're coming in with our being aware of it in advance. They're not just showing up unexpectedly. We're working with our shippers as they bring on their fleet. Typically in CP's network, when they're bringing on private cars, it's because they have a specific commodity to move, and it's best to have it in unique equipment.

Agriculture committee  No, this is not new for CP. We've been doing it for many years, but we are doing it much more consistently. Basically, our design is looking into winter and saying that in certain temperatures we need to make sure that we have a certain number of locomotives, both the mid- and end-of-train.