Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All I wanted to say was that the whole purpose for this legislation was to ensure that the shippers didn't have disproportionate costs that they would incur in getting these disputes settled. The word “equally” introduces so much ambiguity into the amendments that are before us that there's a virtual guarantee the shippers are going to end up spending many years in court litigating this whole issue of what does the word “equally” mean, and what does it apply to? In the end, the shippers may actually end up with a result they did not want. That we have this negative response from virtually the whole industry on this amendment I think speaks clearly to the fact that this is a word we don't want to insert.
I understand where Mr. Carrier is coming from. We share his sentiments and we want to make sure the shippers are treated fairly across the board. But given the fact that Canada is so diverse, one specific industry may have different circumstances in different regions of the country. Because of that, applying a ruling or an application equally across the country would really be counterproductive.
I would encourage Mr. Carrier to perhaps withdraw this amendment, if he would. I believe it's actually working against what he's trying to achieve.