One part of the CTA review that was critical for us was that Mr. Emerson identified the need for short-lines to receive funding, which couldn't have been said better.
We took over a lot of lines that were in tough shape and we are struggling to keep our head above water. In a lot of cases, we take very seriously every single car we ship, and we are really an advocate for our customer, especially since the demise of the Wheat Board. We find short-lines, especially in Saskatchewan, to be the voice of a lot of producers.
In instances like this, we find that not only are we talking for the short-line but we're talking for the producer, because right now he doesn't know who to talk to who can give him any help.
When it comes to interswitching, as I mentioned, under the current form it really has no advantage to the short-line and doesn't help us. If that doesn't change, we'd rather see you get rid of it for the fact that it's an advantage to the class Is.
We also think that we can compete very well with trucks. We can compete with our class I customers, as long as that playing field is level and as long as we end up in a situation that we're afforded the same car supply and access as those mainline points. If we can obtain that, I think short-lines will be a valuable piece.
As was mentioned here, as we get into situations, short-lines can be a very valuable, let's say, surge capacity in a tough year. As was mentioned about winter conditions, we have the same winter conditions and we operate in the same fashion. But because we are able to react quicker and almost as efficiently as the class Is, we think there's incidents where we could help out. We simply have to work together. I think the relationship is growing between the class Is and the short-lines so that we can do that.
Not all of this is negative; there are some positives. But, really, the interswitching, when it was all done, didn't accomplish what it was supposed to and, like I said, I'm not sure it ever will.