Thank you very much.
Certainly, yes, there are probably more short-line railways in Saskatchewan, for example, than anywhere else in the country. All of the short-lines, you might know, belonged at one time to the class I carriers— just about all of them. They were spun off when those were allowed to commercialize. The reason that the larger railways left those lines was because there wasn't a lot of traffic. Over the years there wasn't a lot of investment that went into those lines. By definition they are, for the most part, less built up, older, and have received less investment. Short-line railways in this country typically invest about 12% of their revenues in their track and equipment on an annual basis and the class I carriers have been able to invest closer to 20% over the last 10 years. Even through the big recession in 2008, they were still investing at that rate.
There's no question that from coast to coast there are short-line railways that would benefit from these kinds of measures. Consequently, rail customers would benefit because of the access to class I infrastructure. Of course, there's a societal benefit which is why I emphasize the public policy discussion here. There are reduced greenhouse gases, reduced emissions of all kinds, and reduced wear and tear on our highways; and rail is safer than trucking.