Departmental officials have already consulted the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to find out what concerns they really have about this in urban areas. There is noise, but there is also the problem of vibrations. I think that there are usually vibrations when there is noise. But the reverse is not always true.
For that reason, department staff will use an adjudication process — since there might very well be rail friction or other factors — to identify the nature of the problem and the tools needed to fix it. In some cases, the decibel level might be used, but other techniques may come into play as well.
I think that the legislator's intention is to ensure that in urban areas, when you, I or any other MP receive complaints about noise, we will have the appropriate tools at our disposal to correct and resolve the situation. I would not rule out the idea at this point that the agency might be given the means to fix the problem or make the necessary recommendations to have it fixed.
In my opinion, it would be shortsighted to attempt indirectly to refine things so much that they end up having no application at all. I think that we need to have the courage to implement these tools to fix the problems. I hope that creativity and the appropriate tools can be used to meet those objectives.