Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I'm delighted to be here. I think it's fantastic that this committee is taking the time to look at innovation and technology across the transportation sector. Of course, I don't understand why you'd want to talk about any mode other than rail, but I understand.
I'm going to speak very briefly; I have the pleasure of being flanked by two real experts from our industry.
I'm going to kick things off by repeating something I have found in my short time as president of the Railway Association, and that is that we are currently enjoying a real renaissance in rail in this country. And renaissance is the right word because of our tremendous history in Canada, where we have the privilege of living in a country that was built by a railway and not by a rebellion. We now are enjoying tremendous growth and competitiveness in the railway sector that we have not seen before.
We also enjoy tremendous public support. We recently did some survey work through Leger Marketing, and fully 93% of Canadians believe the railway sector is critically important to the Canadian economy.
The Railway Association of Canada represents the industry. People always ask me if I have two railways, and maybe I've perpetuated that myth by being here with CN and CP, but in fact we have 55 railway members currently. We also have an affiliation with the whole supplier industry. It's a significant industry when you mark it all up.
We have 40 short-line railways in this country, and each and every one of them is an amazing story about how we move products.
I always like to show this map, because it really tells the story of our industry. We have a tremendous coast to coast reach. As you can see, we are moving products into the United States. We obviously represent North American integration in terms of our supply chain logistics, all the way down to New Orleans. We have 1,100 trains a day moving freight. We contribute $12 billion to the economy in Canada annually, with 35,000 employees.
On that note, I'll turn it over to Mike, who will talk about the innovation and technology of the industry.