Mr. Chairman, you have to excuse me because I'm not a regular member of this committee. I'm substituting for my colleague. However, I'm familiar with railways because I live in Drummondville, in the heart of Quebec. Freight and passenger trains from New Brunswick travel through the area on their way to Toronto.
I have two questions for you concerning two problems. Drummondville has 70,000 residents. Back when the city was first built, no one ever dreamed that its population would grow this much. Regardless, trains pass right through the city centre, which poses a problem.
A rural municipality near Drummondville had complained a great deal about the noise caused by train whistles. The municipality had long complained about this problem and ultimately reached a agreement with CN. The company upgraded the level crossings at rural concession roads. However, CN has not been able to meet the ever-growing demands of Transport Canada to ensure safety at level crossings.
The new legislation to deal with conflicts of interest may establish a mechanism for resolving disputes between CN and Transport Canada. That's the first problem we see.
The second problem concerns the downtown area of Drummondville. Freight trains are becoming increasingly longer and a railway siding is needed. Can you imagine a railway siding right in the downtown core, with all the noise and congestion that this would entail? A train cannot remain idle for half an hour or three quarters of an hour in a downtown or urban area without creating an impossible situation. A portion of the siding should be built in a rural area. CN has spent four million dollars on feasibility studies. This could have been an option, and Transport Canada made 14 recommendations. CN responded to these 14 recommendations and the idea was again rejected. CN maintained that it had no other choice but to build the railway siding right in the heart of the city.
I'm not sure what is going on between CN and Transport Canada. This is the Transport Committee, but there are a number of disputes with Transport Canada that remain unresolved.