Madam Speaker, I would like to respond to and agree with the points raised by the hon. member.
We are fully aware that in many cases, years before a line is finally abandoned, the railroad sets it apart, ignores it and allows it to fall into disrepair and decay. After that, it can come before the National Transportation Agency and say: "Look how much money it will cost to fix it up. Look how little traffic there is. This line is uneconomical and we want to close it down".
Lack of maintenance, management and marketing leads to the decline of that particular line and the community which goes along with it. Therefore I think the hon. member has made a good suggestion. If we were to ask the railroads to finance, interest free, the rejuvenation of these branch lines then it would ensure that the railroads would not allow the lines to fall into a state of disrepair to begin with.
I do not see that the onus is on the government to pick up where the responsibilities of the railroads left off. I would think we would want to put it right back squarely in the lap of the railway companies to ensure they realize their responsibilities are to maintain adequate rail service in the country.