Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.
With regard to the comment on transportation, yes, roads and bridges are very important to us, but we're here today talking on transit, and thank you for that.
As for what it is in Saskatchewan, as I said in my statement, in rural Saskatchewan I don't know of a publicly funded para-transit bus, other than the fact that we have STC moving seniors. For the most part in rural Saskatchewan, it's volunteers or it's family members, and that's a great thing. We pride ourselves on volunteers and people working within the communities.
My colleague has stated that there are no boundaries when it comes to transportation needs. We have to move the people who need the services, where they need them, and as I said in my opening statement, when you see health care facilities consolidating and schools consolidating and issues like that, it has a huge impact on rural Saskatchewan as a whole. It's a way of life. We're an agriculture-based province. When people need special transportation methods, the need has to be looked at.
It doesn't mean that we can't look at it in our municipal system, because it can work that way, similar to what STC does. But as I stated earlier, it's a crown corporation that loses money every year. There are probably things they could do better, but I think there are things we can do through the federal government, through the provinces, and through the municipalities to coordinate an effort that could work and would be beneficial.
Nothing says that a transit bus can't transport both seniors and special needs people to facilities. Maybe that, in some of the design and some of the cooperation with all levels of government, is what we should look at.