Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, I really thank you for the offer to study rail safety and the SMS system. I've been talking about it since 2006. It was formerly in Bill C-7 and then in Bill C-6, etc., and then in the transportation of dangerous goods.
In fact, I have a motion that is ready to be moved by the end of this meeting, because we need to deal with the agenda of this committee. I will certainly take up your offer to do so.
I have two or three very specific questions. I note that four years ago there was one federal inspector for every 14 trainloads of oil, and now there is one inspector for every 4,000 tankloads of this dangerous cargo. With only 35 rail inspectors, how are they possibly able to have the time and the resources to do proper inspections?
Given that backdrop, why is it that the rail safety budget is now being cut by 19%?