I have a sense that it’s perhaps the type of report that might need to be changed. Based on the way you’re talking about it, this is a report that is prepared for three years and is supposed to contain a great deal of information. By its very nature, the current bill is creating a lot of expectations. Municipalities, people who live around rail yards and urban transit companies are pinning a lot of their hopes on this bill. It seems to me that we can’t say we’re going to wait around for three years to get a report on the effectiveness of the new legislation. I think that’s kind of what’s behind the request to have the report published every year, even if it means focussing a little more on the statistics and case studies, so we can see the effects of this legislation. It would be a little inconsistent on our part to work so hard on a bill like this, with a view to improving the situation for all Canadians, and then say we’re going to wait three years to see whether it’s been effective.
On November 23rd, 2006. See this statement in context.