Earlier, I focused on deregulation and I said that, in some cases, companies were making substantial changes to regulations, to the SMS, consulting no one and providing no choice. One example I gave was that MMA had permission to have a one-man crew.
In that case, it was clear from the outset that we had no say in that and that we were not going to be making that decision. However, we were in the process of negotiating a collective agreement. It was none other than the federal mediator who told me, after a year and a half of negotiations, that he did not know why I was making such an issue about it, making it a deal breaker, because the decision was not mine to make, it was Transport Canada's. In the eyes of a person running the negotiations, it was clear that we had no say.
You say that there are good situations too, and I am sure that is the case. But I am not talking about the good situations, I am telling you about my concerns. For companies like MMA, it is like getting candy at Halloween. They do what they like with the regulations. They enforce and change them unilaterally without consulting anyone.
In 2014, after the events that occurred in Lac-Mégantic, I think it is important for me to tell you that. Then the committee can provide the government with the recommendations needed to make sure that it never happens again, even if that means imposing really clear penalties on the delinquent companies. If that means taking away their licence, then let's do it. The current situation makes no sense.