Mr. Speaker, I have one question for the hon. member.
Some time ago a company called the Great Canadian Railtour Company in British Columbia purchased from VIA Rail, an operation known as the Rocky Mountaineer. After it was purchased, VIA Rail, a government crown corporation, then tried to go back on the deal in a number of ways: by manipulating the contract, by reinterpreting the contract and then later, trying to introduce a competitive service on an adjacent line. All of this was against the spirit if not the letter of the contract.
This would be a concern for people who may be looking at purchasing a privatized CN Rail or a portion of it. We would have to look at actions of the minister under such things as the Pearson contract.
In this situation Canadian businesses put together and signed a contract with the government which the government cancelled, as is its right. We are not questioning that right but rather the entire mechanism where the government tried to introduce legislation that would ban it from going to court seeking redress, whatever proper redress might be.
Does the hon. member think that the actions taken by the Minister of Transport with regard to the Pearson contract might impact on private companies looking to buy a portion of CN Rail or the entire operation?