Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Lebel.
Members of the committee, it is a pleasure to speak to you today about the funding requests in the main estimates for some of the crown corporations in our portfolio. I welcome the opportunity to explain why these funds are necessary so that we can continue to provide essential services to Canadians.
In the interest of time, I'll only talk about a few of our crowns to give you guys the maximum amount of time to ask questions.
I'll start with VIA Rail and I'll talk about Marine Atlantic and Canada Post, which are certainly all critical to our competitiveness and economy. But there are other crowns you can feel free to ask questions about.
With VIA Rail, rail service is not only part of our Canadian heritage, we are investing to enhance passenger rail service and experience in Canada. Since 2007 we've announced significant investments for improvements to VIA stations, equipment, and infrastructure to provide faster and more reliable passenger service across the country. Nearly half of this funding was stimulus funding under the economic action plan.
In November I helped mark the completion of a major track improvement to part of VIA's Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto line. These upgrades improved the Smiths Falls-Brockville line, as we first announced in March 2010. They also include projects from Brockville to Ottawa alongside VIA's Montreal line to Côteau, Quebec.
Due to the completion of these projects VIA was able to launch a new Ottawa-Toronto express train that connects the two cities in less than four hours—three hours and 57 minutes, to be exact.
Moving from rail to sea, let's talk about Marine Atlantic. The ferry service the federal government provides between Nova Scotia and the Island of Newfoundland is a constitutionally mandated service and our government understands how important this service is to Canadians. That's why we have made significant investments to improve it. Since 2007 we have provided significant investment in Marine Atlantic to make it possible for the crown corporation to renew its fleet by chartering the MV Atlantic Vision in 2009. We also were able to acquire several other assets to make the Marine Atlantic experience more enjoyable, more efficient, and so on.
Budget 2010 included even more investments for fleet renewal and improved service to Atlantic Canadians and their families. These included a new terminal building in North Sydney and an upgrade at Port aux Basques and Argentia terminals. In fact, if I may, I actually went on this trip this past summer. In North Sydney I took the ferry across to Argentia, drove across Newfoundland, and went back from Port aux Basques to North Sydney. It must be one of the great road trips in the world. I highly encourage anyone to utilize that service on a recreational basis if you have the opportunity.
These investments reinforce the idea that the economic growth of Atlantic Canada is a key priority for our government. We understand that building a strong transportation infrastructure is an important part of the region's future prosperity. I can assure the committee that these investments are making a difference.
In November I helped dedicate the latest addition to the ferry fleet, the MV Highlanders, which joins her sister ship, the MV Blue Puttees . These are very spectacular vessels.
The new vessels have substantially improved Marine Atlantic's ability to provide on-time, reliable service, and Marine Atlantic has introduced initiatives to increase efficiencies while ensuring customers continue to receive good value for their money. The introduction of new fleet in 2011 and the replacement of a significant amount of shore infrastructure and equipment will allow Marine Atlantic to manage its operations more efficiently. Savings will begin to be realized in 2013, once the organization gains more experience with these new vessels. The balanced approach will boost our efforts to achieve a sustainable, prosperous recovery and preserve the Canadian economy's advantages now and in the future.
Finally, I'll go to Canada Post. As Canadian communities--large, small, urban, rural--all across Canada will attest, Canada Post provides a vital service. And good service is what Canadians expect. Because all Canadians deserve reliable postal service, we specifically made postal service to rural communities an integral part of Canada Post's universal service. We also maintain a moratorium on the closing of rural post offices.
In 2010 Canada Post began a $2.1 billion modernization initiative, which will make major investments in equipment, technology, and processes. This will allow Canada Post to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and we will continue to support Canada Post's efforts to ensure that all Canadians have the postal service they need and deserve. I'll note that the chair of this committee has brought forward a private member's bill that will help us improve the service to Canadians as well.
Mr. Chairman, these three crown corporations provide central services to Canadians. Our government is committed to ensuring that they have the resources they need to carry out the mandates. Securing the funding outlined in the main estimates is key to making this happen.
I'll stop there.
Shoot away.