Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, I don't believe there's a person on this committee, or indeed a person in this room or a Canadian from coast to coast to coast, who does not feel for the people of Lac-Mégantic. It is indeed a very tragic event, one of the biggest in our country. To suggest either directly or indirectly that there has been anything but focus on Lac-Mégantic from the onset of this tragic event I think would be way out of line.
To put things into perspective, I'll begin with the political side. Certainly the Prime Minister, the Minister of Transport, the local minister and local MP, the leaders of the opposition parties, you, Mr. Chair, as the chair of the transport committee, and other MPs from the surrounding area have visited the site. They didn't visit the site as tourists; they visited the site to assess the tremendous damage and the hurt of the people. Some of the bodies have not yet been identified. The potential environmental damage from this catastrophe is still to be determined. There are professionals, experts in the field, who have been on the ground from the beginning, including from Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board and from police services under the lead of the Sûreté du Québec. There are a lot of unanswered questions that we all want answers to. It's not that one politician wants more answers than others. I don't believe that one group or one party or one person feels more than another when it comes to the tremendous human tragedy that has taken place there.
It is our duty as legislators to act once we have all of the necessary information in order to act. I don't know how we can conduct any study now without speaking to some of those people who eventually will determine the cause of the tragedy. We don't know how it happened yet. To sit as a committee and come up with conclusions and to conduct a review without speaking to the actual people, those resources who are very much needed in the area right now, would be a huge disservice to the people of Lac-Mégantic. There is no question in my mind about that.
I find Mr. Watson's motion very thoughtful. I find that it leaves the door open. It asks the committee to conduct a study when there are more findings available so we that know where we should be focusing first. Those are the answers that the people of Lac-Mégantic want. Those are the answers that the mayors in the surrounding area want. Those are the answers that the mayor in my town of Richmond Hill, a town I represent here—we have trains going through with product—want. We want to know what happened, how it happened, and how it can be prevented in the future.
Not knowing what actually happened, not having an opportunity to speak to the people who investigated it, not having the results of the findings, without being in any way, shape or form demeaning to anyone in this room, I find it premature at this time.... I'm in full support of Mr. Watson's motion because I really believe it's going to give the best opportunity for the right action to be taken by parliamentarians on this committee.
Thank you.