Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
We have been talking about it for half an hour already.
Why March 21? Is there some reason in particular?
I do want to read a press release from the Grain Growers of Canada, our main stakeholders. The one thing they're asking of us is to have a unified voice to press the Senate to pass this bill as quickly as possible. That's what they're asking of us.
What can we do as a committee before March 21 in order for us to put pressure on the Senate? While we as a committee may not be able to hear from witnesses prior to March 21, I think we can write a letter, as a committee, to the chair of the transport committee. They've already had nine meetings. I know it's possible to pass the bill in the Senate much quicker. The House has done it in two months. That wasn't counting the week we had during the Victoria Day week in May and the week we had during Thanksgiving.
I think it's very much possible that the Senate can pass this bill as quickly as possible. The House has done its job. Now it's up to the Senate to do its job. I'm not seeing extra meetings from the Senate to hear from more witnesses. We as a committee must do our job. We have done our job already. We've done our job three times. We voted, and it passed first, second, and third reading in the House. It's over on the Senate side. From a committee's perspective, I think we should write a letter right away, sign it, and send it to the chair of the transportation committee, obviously before March 21.
Mr. Barlow, I know you were talking about the FCC. I'm not sure if you got to see the press release, but it's hot off the press. The FCC has offered assistance to customers impacted by grain movement delays. That's already on the docket for farmers who have been impacted.
I suggest that we write a letter to the committee and hear from witnesses to see.... I know that the rail companies have up to March 15 to come up with a solution and to publish it. I think it would be incumbent on us to hear about the progress, or lack of progress, on March 21. Yes, we do need to hear from grain growers, but I think we should urge the Senate to pass this bill before March 21. They could do it on March 20. They're sitting on March 20, so they could do it on March 20.