Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for appearing.
I have a couple of questions. On page three of your presentation, in the fifth paragraph, you make reference to having encouraged the railways to develop a commercial solution that would complement amendments to the shipper protection provisions. You said significant progress was made, but unfortunately they were unable to reach an agreement, and you still support a commercial approach. I'm wondering how you feel that fits in with what's provided in this bill.
Secondly, I want to make a comment. I'm glad to see the issue has been addressed with respect to the incidental charges included in this bill. I know that was a concern of the shippers. I'm wondering what issues from your discussion remain to be resolved in terms of the proposed review of the services. I'm thinking of running rights, for example, about which it was indicated that there was not agreement. I think the comment was that the main proponent of expanded running rights had dropped their support and focused on the other changes.
Is that simply a shift of priorities? The running rights.... I'm thinking of the port of Prince Rupert, which you made reference to, and the port of Vancouver. We know how important the Asia Pacific is going to be. The whole Asia Pacific initiative, which was started by our government and has been carried on by yours, has huge potential for Canada and certainly for British Columbia. And rail access is vital to the success of the gateway.
We know that by 2020 the indications are that rail container shipments through the port of Vancouver will be up 300% from the current roughly two million containers, or 20-foot equivalents, to somewhere between five million and seven million. That's huge, and we have to have a system that's able to handle that.
I wonder if you would comment on that.