Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, it has been a year and a half since Greyhound pulled out of Canada. It has been over four years since they pulled out of western Canada. Right now Canadians, especially low-income Canadians, have fewer passenger transportation options than they have had in decades and decades.
You have said in the past that if the provinces step up with proposals, the federal government is willing to provide resources; but what we have heard at the transport committee from witnesses for our current study on bus transport is that federal leadership is lacking.
My question is, what happens when the provinces don't step up, when they don't come forward with proposals to fill the holes left by Greyhound? At one point, Greyhound provided an interconnected interprovincial system of bus transport all across the country. Now we have a fragment of that, a shadow of that former network.
What happens when the provinces don't come forward because, frankly, they are not interested in building a national passenger bus network? What leadership are you willing to show as our Transport Minister to ensure that Canadians have access to the kind of bus transportation that a lot of other countries take for granted?