Since it has been a little bit of time since we first talked about it, I'd like to reiterate some of the reasons we brought this forward. A number of our witnesses told us many things about regulated interswitching. They believe that it has worked well as a pro-competitive remedy because rail carriers have been prepared to compete for traffic using it and because the applicable rates are known to all prospective participants at the time when they are negotiating potential routes, rates, and other conditions.
They have also noted that the long-haul interswitching remedy in Bill C-49 is far less user friendly. They made many points, but there are two that I would highlight at the end of this conversation. First, on a more fundamental level, LHI is very similar in concept and overall structure to the competitive line rate remedy that has been in the legislation since 1988. That remedy has been inoperative since the early 1990s because CN and CP have effectively declined to compete for traffic using the CLR. That was the conclusion reached in the statutory review of the National Transportation Act in 1993, which was almost 25 years ago.
Second, when speaking with regard to the four western provinces, the witness group stated that for most shippers in western Canada, the nearest interchange with a second carrier was an interchange between CN and CP, and they provided a map to us when they made their testimony. They stated that, like CLR, whether LHI provides competitive alternatives to any shipper will depend largely on whether CN and CP are prepared to compete with each other using this remedy. Unless they are, LHI will remain a concept on paper that has little or no practical application.