I was very disappointed with how loosely this bill was written. When we talk about oversight and expediting the exemption processes, it's very frustrating because I think the major rail employers that we see in Canada have a different agenda. They're not mainly owned by Canadians. They're Americans, so when we have an exemption given, it scares the crap out of me, especially when we talk about an expedited process for an exemption process, which I think this bill alludes to.
We've seen employers make an exemption under safety, and they've removed our people from the process and relied on technology. Even in terms of the Railway Safety Act and the freight car inspection rules, you know, legislation is not supposed to be changed unless it's “safer than”.
We're removed from the process, and these things aren't happening. The employers are saying that they're relying on these exemptions for certain things and that it's going to enhance rail safety, but the fact is that's not what's happening in Canada. When we talk about an “expedited process”, it's removing us from that process.
We have a lot of good things to bring in and consult on, from the workers' perspective and other perspectives, that these large, mainly American, players don't bring to the table.