Madam Speaker, it is always a joy to rise in this House and follow the member for Winnipeg-Birds Hill. Excuse me, it is Winnipeg Transcona; I apologize for that. I would not want to confuse him with the member for Birds Hill, who is a Liberal and represents his constituents very ably and helps them understand the needs of doing business in the 20th century and not the 19th century, as the member for Winnipeg Transcona does.
It is passing strange to me to note how the NDP, once a leader in social justice in this country, has become a conservative party, simply refusing to accept any kind of change or acknowledge that any kind of improvement should take place anywhere, anytime.
Like the previous member, I want to briefly comment on the process. I am delighted that the government has chosen to go this route with this bill. I am somewhat astounded at the remarks from the Reform Party, who seem to be opposed to this.
What has happened in this Parliament since the new government arrived in 1993 is we changed the rules of the House in a manner that allows the people of Canada to participate in important debates on public policy prior to the government making up its mind finally on a piece of legislation. It is an opening up and an inviting into the process, rather than a fast tracking, as the member for Winnipeg Transcona would have us believe.
I think the minister has done a great deal in a very short period of time to deal with the regulatory burden that has been imposed on this country, some of it for good reasons and some of it perhaps we have outgrown. I think we owe the minister a vote of thanks for allowing this debate to take place in this fashion and for steering this debate.
We have the member for Hamilton West, the chair of the transportation committee, who is well known to this House, who is very experienced on these matters. I am assured he will give people right across this country an opportunity to come before the committee and put on the table their issues on this very important matter.
The parliamentary secretary, the member for London East, has been working tirelessly to see that members of this House are informed on this issue and are responding to issues that have been raised by constituents right across the country.
I want to make a comment on an earlier change this minister has brought in, the changes in the WGTA, which represented a stepping back from subsidy and regulation on the part of this government. Two days ago in my home town of Winnipeg there was an announcement by Schneider's that they are going to open a very large, two million hogs a year, meat processing plant. At last we are doing what western Canadians have been calling for for a long time: we are taking the false subsidies out of the rate structure and we are allowing the development of secondary processing in the prairies, where it should have been for a long time. We are all very pleased about that, and we are pleased it is this government that finally has the courage to challenge the burden that has been imposed by regulation.
I am not going to stand up in this House and say all regulation is wrong; it is not. Whenever there are imperfect markets, whenever monopolies exist, for example, or whenever the public good needs to be protected, there is a need for government to act, and act in a manner that attempts to level the playing field between competing interests. That is what this is all about.
The government has said that while it has owned the CNR it has imposed burdens on the railway for reasons other than the commercial interests of the railway. In an environment where change is taking place so rapidly now and where there has been such a tremendous evolution in transportation, it is time to revisit that. It is time to ask whether or not these regulations are serving the purpose for which they were intended.
As chair of the western and northern caucus I can tell the House that we take great interest in the particular matter. Transportation is vital to all regions of Canada, but nowhere is that seen as vividly as it is in western Canada with its tremendous distances and sparse populations.
In addressing Bill C-101 this afternoon I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of rail transportation to western and northern Canada. Commodities such as coal, sulphur, grain and petrochemicals must be shipped substantial distances from points of origin in western and northern Canada to markets around the globe. For most of these movements highway transportation does not present an effective competitive alternative to rail transportation and inland water transport is non-existent. For the great majority of the transportation requirements of western Canadian industry rail is the only realistic way of accessing export markets.
Canadian railways rely heavily on resource based products for their revenues. Intermodal traffic handled by the railways is highly truck competitive and has limited profitability. The eastern Canadian operations of the railways by their own public statements have not been profitable in recent years. Railways accordingly look for their profitability to the resource based industries of western Canada. It is essential that we do not endeavour to solve the financial problems of railways by creating a bigger problem, namely to give railways greater leverage to increase freight rates in western Canada and thereby impair the ability of western Canadian industry to compete on a long term basis in world markets.
There is widespread agreement on the need for railway reform in the country. Railways are burdened with excess track and impediments to productivity improvements. Bill C-101 will permit CN and CP to sell or abandon unprofitable trackage without regulatory intervention and will encourage lower cost short line railway operations to be developed. We believe this makes good economic sense and the legislation is to be commended for enabling railways to become more cost efficient.
There is widespread agreement in the House that the encouragement of a competitive railway environment in Canada is the best way to achieve efficient and cost effective rail service. This, however, is not achieved by complete deregulation as some would allege because there are many industries in western Canada that are essentially captive to rail transportation.
Railway regulation has historically served a different purpose than the regulation of other modes of transport. Trucking regulation restricted available trucking services and limited the freedom of choice of consumers. The deregulation of that industry had a pro-competitive result.
Railway regulation has served a different purpose. It protects captive shippers against the excessive monopoly power of the railways. Legislative provisions which give competitive options to railway customers promote competition. It is the stated policy of the government that those provisions, called the shipper relief
provisions, will remain untouched in the present legislation. We are in full agreement with that approach.
I do have grave concerns, however, with certain sections of the proposed legislation that will make it more difficult for railway customers to obtain access to the Canadian transportation agency should the need arise. These barriers to agency access are counterproductive to a competitive railway environment and are unnecessary based on the experience of the last eight years.
The shipper relief provisions have been used by railway customers on only a handful of occasions. Their principal benefit has been to provide railway customers with some bargaining leverage in negotiating rates and service agreements with the railways. In this regard they have been particularly successful, as virtually thousands of rate and service agreements have been entered into between rail carriers and their customers and only when agreements could not be reached has recourse to the agency been required. Accordingly there is no need to construct barriers or fences to prevent their continued utilization. This will only have the effect of impairing their efficiency and making it more difficult for commercial arrangements to be concluded.
Section 113 of the proposed legislation provides that all rates set by the agency must be commercially fair and reasonable, while as a general principle no one could reasonably argue that rates should not be commercially fair and reasonable. The problem is that there is no definition of what is commercially fair and reasonable in the current bill.
Subsection 34(1) will enable the agency to order the payment of compensation for any loss or delay as a result of a proceeding which is found to be frivolous or vexatious. While this again does not appear to be unreasonable on the face of it, I am not aware of any pressing reason for its inclusion in the legislation. There is no history of frivolous or vexatious applications being filed with the agency and should a proceeding be initiated the agency has the jurisdiction to assess costs against an offending party.
I am concerned that this provision could operate as a deterrent to a railway customer who has a valid proceeding to advance before the agency. The chilling effect of a large damage award, should the application be unsuccessful, could well cause a railway customer not to proceed with a valid application.
A further area which I know the committee will consider concerns the running rights provisions. The provision to allow railways to sell or abandon lines will lead to, it is hoped by many, the creation of a great many short line railways. Absent the right to run as was originally proposed to the first competitive interchange where they can receive two bids for their cost of transportation and short line railways will remain captive in a less free environment than they currently have.
I appreciate very much the opportunity to speak on the bill. I know the committee will take the time to hear from many Canadians who are very concerned as we move to a new environment for rail transportation in the country.