Thank you, Madam Chair.
Members of the committee, good afternoon.
We're sorry we could not be in attendance with you in snowy Ottawa. Although it is snowing in Montreal, we have full confidence that if we had taken a train, we would have been there on time to meet with you. Unfortunately, it will be a pleasure that we will have to put off to another day and I look forward to the honour of meeting with all of you in person.
Today we are here to talk about our request for supplementary estimates (C).
By way of introduction, I'll just talk a bit about VIA Rail and its status within the apparatus of the Government of Canada. VIA Rail was formed in 1977 by an order in council. It is a non-agent crown corporation. It reports to Parliament through the Minister of Transport, and it is subject to annual appropriation. Its mandate is to provide a safe, efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly transportation service that meets the needs of Canadians.
Up to 90% of our passengers travel within the Quebec-Windsor corridor. The rest of our travellers are either on The Canadian—the iconic train that you see on the back of your $10 bill—from Toronto to Vancouver, or The Ocean, which goes from Montreal to Halifax. A small number of our travellers travel to remote areas like Senneterre and Jonquière, Quebec; from Winnipeg to Churchill, Manitoba; and Prince Rupert, B.C.
I have been the serving president and CEO since May 2014. Since that time, we have been busy refocusing our business to what counts most, which is our passengers. With that new vision of making and providing Canadians with a smarter way to move around Canada, we have been putting passengers first. Very early on, in the last 18 months, that experience has started to bear fruit. For the first time since the recession of 2008, ridership has picked up, and so has revenue, for VIA Rail. But much is left to be done.
Just a few minutes ago, I was informed that VIA for the first time has made the Forbes list of top employers in Canada, coming in 47th in the top 250 Canadian employers, and fourth in Quebec. It is the highest-ranking federal institution as employer. Management at VIA take full credit for that ranking.
The estimates (C) request is for $38 million, encompassing three areas of activity: information technology, equipment refurbishment, and infrastructure projects.
With regard to equipment refurbishment, we're looking at completing the fleet renewal undertaken back in 2010 of the LRC fleet, which is coming to the end of its term over the next seven to 10 years.
On the infrastructure side, we are looking for funds to complete work under way on subdivisions owned by VIA Rail: part of the Guelph subdivisions, the Alexandria subdivisions, and the Chatham subdivisions in southwest Ontario.
In order to provide context to members of the committee, I would like to make a few points with regard to the operating realities of VIA Rail. One that is VIA operates the oldest rolling stock in passenger service in North America, with an average age of over 40 years. Therefore, this refurbishment project is of immediate importance, so is the renewal of that fleet in very short order.
The second point is that the mission of VIA is really to take passengers out of their cars, specifically in the high-density Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor, and put them into trains. To do so, VIA management has developed a plan to build and operate its own railway network between those major cities. The objective is to move five million passengers from their cars to the train, reducing the carbon footprint of Canadian cars in Canada by 22.5 million tonnes per year by that mere decision.
It is within the context of our renewed commitment to safe, comfortable, and environmentally sustainable passenger rail service, on behalf of the Government of Canada, that I submit to you our request for these estimates.
Thank you, Madam Chair.