Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Péloquin, Ms. Toporowski and Mr. Lavoie. Thank you for your apology. I think the passengers deserve a public apology, which you have reiterated.
However, I must admit that, at one point during your remarks, I got shivers. You mentioned that what happened on August 31 was not the result of a single event, but of a series of events that occurred at the same time. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, reminding me of the Lac‑Mégantic tragedy, where exactly the same thing happened. It was not a single incident, but a series of events that occurred at the same time and that led to the tragedy that killed 47 people. I just wanted to share my emotional reaction. I did not expect to go there. This proves that, when incidents like this occur, we must take them seriously, particularly when passengers are involved. These big machines can also kill hundreds of people. Therefore, I find that “unacceptable” is a paltry word to describe incidents like this when we have no answers as to what happened.
Mr. Péloquin, you said that you were going to establish a new communication protocol with Transport Canada. How were the events of 2022 a lesson for Via Rail? How will a communication protocol improve matters from now on with Transport Canada, when it seems that the discussions between the department and Via Rail in 2022 produced no results in terms of safety at Via Rail?