Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I want to say that I also found it absolutely unacceptable to see people stuck on a train for 10 hours, especially since this isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it happened in December 2022, during the holidays. We were told at the time that corrective measures would be applied, lessons would be learned and action would be taken. As it happens, here we are in a similar situation almost two years later. That can only be annoying for just about everyone around the table today.
I would have proposed the same amendment as my colleague: adding passengers who were affected by this incident to the list of witnesses. I'm very pleased to see that this has been added to the motion.
I have to say that I am a little more torn when it comes to the second part of the amendment. Basically, I tend to agree with the Conservatives, who say that the government has failed to ensure a reliable transportation system in Canada. We need only look at the record of the Canadian Transportation Agency, for example. Every time agency officials appear before the committee, they tell us that the processing time for complaints is longer than it used to be. People are discouraged; we're talking about a year and a half to resolve complaints. That delay has been getting longer and longer for years. There has been chaos at the airports, as one of my colleagues pointed out. The issue of a reliable transportation system certainly needs to be addressed. In addition, we see that the problem at Via Rail has not been resolved and that it is ongoing.
The only reservation I would have about the Conservatives' initial motion is this: I get the feeling we are writing the conclusions in advance for the study we want to do. That is why I am a little more torn on the second part of the motion, even though I agree with the substance. I think the most important thing is to add the passengers who were affected to the list of witnesses. As to whether or not the last part of the Conservative motion should be retained, I think we could always include those elements in the committee's report.