Mr. Laframboise, committee members, good afternoon.
We have worked hard in Charny in an attempt to resolve or minimize the problem. After Oakville's failure we knew that we would not get anywhere. The CTA no longer had any authority however we did turn to them for mediation. Canadian National agreed to sitting down at the negotiation table with us, in the presence of the CTA. The discussions, which were confidential, lasted for 18 months. Nothing came out of these discussions.
I had experienced this in other areas. My impression is this. It's really quite simple: Canadian National spends a few hundred thousand dollars on hiring four or five lawyers, has them sit down with us, along with five, six or seven experts, and buys time. They succeed by wearing us out. In our case, the citizens' group ended up giving up. People left feeling that they couldn't do anything. That has been our experience of mediation.
That is why we are insisting so strongly on giving the CTA real authority and on developing a legislative framework that will allow for action to be taken. This is the only business in our environment that does not have to answer for its actions.