Minister, you've talked about HFR and your plan for improved dedicated passenger rail between Toronto and Quebec City. That's Canada's most populous corridor.
I think building that infrastructure is something that we strongly support, in principle. We want to see it done publicly and in the public interest, not for private profit.
However, we haven't heard your government's vision for passenger transportation in rural Canada. It's been years now since Greyhound terminated its service in Canada, leaving hundreds of communities across the country without affordable passenger transportation options. Via Rail service in rural Canada is extremely limited and challenged by the fact that it shares the tracks with the major freight companies.
I think people in rural Canada today have fewer passenger transportation options than they have had in a hundred years.
What is your vision for passenger transportation in rural Canada? What are you willing to do as a government to ensure that rural Canadians have the options they deserve?