First of all, thank you for your question. I can only endorse your frustration with the B.C. government. That's what I live with all the time.
Let me try to explain my understanding of the position of the B.C. government--it's not mine--and then my position with respect to what they say.
The former B.C. Rail, which was a crown corporation in British Columbia, was sold to CN. The deal finished in 2004. The position of the Minister of Transportation in British Columbia, and therefore of the British Columbia government, is that the railway, having been sold to CN, with CN being an interprovincial, national railway, is now a federally regulated entity.
The answer of the minister, when I questioned him, often and assertively, both in public and in the legislature, was, “That's federal. Go talk to them in Ottawa.” Here I am.
My view of his position is that while there may be a sense in which he's formally correct, it's nevertheless the responsibility of the Government of British Columbia to advocate on behalf of the people of British Columbia. When those people in British Columbia and the environment are put at risk, which we believe they have been over the last several years, then it's up to the minister in British Columbia. Even if he believes that it's federally regulated and he has no formal jurisdiction, it's his job to come here, to contact his federal counterpart and to publicly advocate on behalf of the safety and security of the people of B.C. and our environment.
Personally, I don't accept the position of the Government of British Columbia. I know we may get into a whole constitutional thing here, and I'm not sure I want to, but I don't accept their position. I think they should be much more aggressive and assertive. Their excuse for not being so—and I think it's simply an excuse, and it's not justified—is that CN is federally regulated.