My name is Dave Podruzny. I represent the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada and also Canada's chemical producers.
Industrial chemical producers move more than three-quarters of our products by rail. We do so because it's the safest way to do it and it's the most economical way to do it. It also produces the least amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and it's almost 17 times more efficient than moving the same volumes by truck.
Here we are talking about something that's dominated by a different sector, agriculture, but I will be emphasizing the importance of interswitching in rebalancing some of the market power that exists. We look at the Transportation Act, the regulations, and the agency as a way to rebalance what is otherwise a monopoly situation.
Chemical production in Canada exceeds $53 billion. Our exports are $38 billion. We're second in manufacturing in exports. We employ about 90,000 Canadians in communities right across the country and a significant portion—38%, second only to IT—are university graduates. These are good careers for communities right across the country.
Chemicals are more globally traded than any other product of commerce, so moving it efficiently and effectively is very important. Our members are very committed to working with government, with transportation partners, and with communities in areas of safety. Making sure we have the best standards in place is something we fully support. Safety is a top priority in our business. Perhaps one of the reasons we have such a high proportion of university graduates is that we deal with dangerous chemicals. We deal with things that need to be properly treated. We believe that many of our products should not be moving by truck; we believe they should be moving by rail to minimize the risk. Risk management is important.
We are responsible for and we own or lease all of the railcars that the railways move. That's an important aspect. We believe that we look after the risk associated with our product to the point of hand-off. We are concerned that railways maintain liability when they take the goods from us and then deliver them to another point. We are strong proponents of maintaining the common carrier obligation. We believe that Canada requires a commercially based and market-driven rail freight system, and we believe that the Transportation Act, the regulations, and the agency provide that.
The chemistry industry is a responsible one. Our responsible care ethic, which was developed in Canada, is now recognized by the United Nations and is in over 64 countries around the world. We believe that the expanded interswitching that exists in western Canada has provided a number of our members with important leverage in negotiating competitive rates, and we would like to see that maintained.
Keeping the transportation agency's dispute resolution on a strong footing is equally important. We are concerned about rebalancing, about market power, and, as was mentioned earlier, about reciprocity. I can tell you right now that among the hundreds of penalties for doing something wrong, there are none that we can apply against the railways; they all are the other way around.
If you look at our sites, you see that a third of our sites are covered in railway sidings, because we move a lot of product. Fully 12.5% of the volume of the railways is chemicals, fertilizers, things that you can relate to, things that need to get to the farm communities. The dangerous chemicals I mentioned are things that need to get to communities so they can have proper water treatment. They're an integral part of the Canadian economy. We take Canada's raw resources and convert them into valuable stuff, all kinds of products that are used in many of the manufacturing industries in the country.
I'll stop there. I want to give maximum time for asking questions.
Thank you very much.