Mr. Chair, I think this was a phenomenal meeting. I commend the members of the committee who called the meeting. I think everyone is on the same page. There is a situation. It's a problem, and we need to fix it. I think everyone is getting on board.
I was very pleased, as I mentioned earlier, to receive a copy of a letter, a strongly worded letter, sent by the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Agriculture to the rail lines, CN and CP, asking specifically what our stakeholders have asked for, what the farmers are asking for: fix this backlog; show us a plan that says how you'll get rid of the backlog; and then, once the backlog is gotten rid of, what will you do to put in a proper plan, systemically and holistically, to ensure that this problem will never occur again?
We've heard from CN. They are going to act. There's a deadline of the 15th. That's what our stakeholders have asked for. The companies CN and CP will, I assume, or I hope—if not, there will be penalties—put forth their plan. They will communicate with the ministers.
That's what the ministers have done. The government has acted. That's how our government ought to operate. We have a role as an agriculture committee. There is a role of ministers, of MPs. We're all acting together, not in a partisan way but in a co-operative way, to fix a problem. That's what government is all about. When there's a problem, we fix it. The Minister of Transport and the Minister of Agriculture reacted properly. They told the rail lines that there was a problem and to do something. CN, to its credit, came out and said, yes, we may have dropped the ball on this one; we're going to act.
So let's play this out. I'd like to commend the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Agriculture for acting. Let's see what occurs. On the 15th or before, we'll see the plans from the rail lines. Then we'll hear from all the stakeholders.
Again, it's a great thing that we had this meeting today. We'll follow up on the 19th. We'll do our role as a committee. The ministers are doing their role. Farmers are putting pressure on the rail lines. The government is putting pressure on the rail lines. I'm assuming that the rail lines will act, because there will be consequences if they don't.
I think it's a good thing. We're moving forward very quickly. I'd like to commend Monsieur Berthold, Monsieur Barlow, and the other two members of the committee who asked for this meeting. They are not here today, but they asked for the meeting. That's a good thing. I think we are working together on this.