Ms. Bateman, I want to say thank you so much for being here today and for presenting your bill to this committee.
As you noted in your opening comments, it was the tragic accident at Lac-Mégantic that has moved this Minister of Transport, the government, and this committee to study the safety of rail safety across Canada. I know we have all been working very hard to this end.
It's wonderful to have you here presenting your private member's bill, Bill C-627, another aspect to making our railway system even more safe. I'm very impressed that you've undertaken to do this.
I want to note some important facts and figures. It's noted here that of the 23,000 grade crossings under federal jurisdiction, 18% of all rail accidents in Canada are at grade crossings. That's a substantive number; 18% is almost one-fifth of all accidents at grade crossings. Again, I think your bill is very timely. It obviously speaks to the point and that is safety for Canadians and for rail.
In your consideration of this bill, which I think is quite comprehensive, you talk about railway safety, safety of persons, and the safety of property. There are obviously some gaps in previous legislation, which is why you proposed your bill.
Can you speak to why you felt you wanted to separate out those three aspects and why your bill will fix the gaps?