I just want to say two or three things, quickly.
First, thank you, Mr. Chair. I think we learned a great deal in the preceding months when we heard from a lot of experts and witnesses. One of the key areas in which I've learned a lot is that we live in a global world, and we need to look at standards occasionally that are European or Asian, allow those standards to be transferable, and allow the regulations to be streamlined by the ministry. That would unleash the power of the private sector to be more innovative. We heard that very loud and clear, and I'm glad the recommendations dealt with that.
The second point that I think was very helpful to note is that the government has a role to play from time to time in providing encouragement and support for new technology, especially emerging technologies. There's a bit of debate as to how active the government should be. My friends across the way think the government shouldn't be terribly active; others think that maybe it should be. There's a different definition of what active means. That's one of the reasons we have a minority report. We think it's a limited role, but I think government has a role to encourage innovation.
Third, the reason we have a minority report is that we firmly believe there are emerging technologies that can be rapidly applied to our transport sector. For example, around the world Bombardier has made us very proud with their electric trains. I've been on a few of them and there's no reason we couldn't have them introduced in Canada. That's why we have a minority report that talks about electric trains, electric buses, electric cars, and also about active transportation, such as cycling, and other areas, such as putting side guards on trucks to make them aerodynamic. At the end of the day, it's good for the environment, it's good for the industry, it creates jobs, and it moves products and people.
I want to thank the committee members. We were able to work together to bring this report to fruition. Thus, we want to submit the minority report to you.