The money that has been given to VIA is much needed. It's being wisely spent. This is a very good investment, which is bringing some economic benefits. It will give us moderate improvements in track speed between Ottawa-Toronto-Montreal, greater capacity, and less interference with freight trains. So there are a great many benefits there, and we're very glad to see that kind of investment. We are talking about bigger numbers, and the private sector has a big role to play. But previous studies have shown that the private sector can't finance the infrastructure; this requires a public component. It was previously shown, however, that the private sector can operate a service at a profit as long as the infrastructure is there.
On May 28th, 2009. See this statement in context.