Thank you, Minister, for that answer, but with respect, I think the best investment incentive you could provide to the industry to ensure that the capacity is there particularly during peak times to move grain to tidewater is to move to a system where commercial forces can play a much greater role. I think that's the one big flaw in this bill that has not been addressed. I think we will be revisiting, in a crisis situation, the fact that western Canadian grain farmers cannot get their grain to tidewater when they need to. I think that's the major flaw in this bill.
I applaud you for the other initiatives that you've taken in this bill, but this is clearly an issue. It's not an issue that's new. It's an issue that's been around for the better part of two decades. We have two reports now, one commissioned by a Conservative government and one commissioned by a Liberal government, that have both concluded that the government should lift the maximum revenue entitlements and move the system slowly and gradually to a commercial basis to address this fundamental problem.
You know, in the 2001 report, it says, and I quote, the “failure to move quickly enough to a system where commercial forces are allowed to work” resulted in a crisis in the grain industry in terms of moving grain. The same conclusions were made in the report that David Emerson was involved with in February of last year. We know what the root problem is, and Bill C-49 does not address it.
Thank you, Madam Chair.