We've had two recent examples of supply chain issues that have arisen that I think really underline how vulnerable we are with respect to our trade infrastructure. We had the rail blockades, then the port of Montreal strike and then, of course, COVID, which was a global disruption.
Those two instances really showed how critically important Canada's rail infrastructure is and the connections it then has to the ports and how narrow that band of infrastructure is across the country. When one element of it goes down due to disruption, whatever the reason may be.... The knock-on effects that we saw, not just in the auto sector but throughout the economy, were massive. Companies weren't able to say, “Okay, we'll divert to a different port” or “We'll divert to a different rail line.” There was no other option; that was the only way, so we ended up having to use trucks or airplanes at great expense to move goods.
I would just urge that, as the government thinks about a post-COVID trade infrastructure strategy, we think about building some resiliency into some of those key linkages across Canada to make sure we avoid those situations.