Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources would answer a question. I know he was talking some time earlier about the fisheries and the role of science, et cetera. In his role of parliamentary secretary and given his proximity to the government's plan on how to deal with greenhouse gas emissions, I wonder if he could tell me whether there is any plan on the part of the government to reinvest substantially in rail transportation in this country and re-regulate the transportation industry in the country to favour rail transportation over other modes of transportation.
It has seemed to me for a long time and, in fact, my maiden speech in the House was to some degree about one thing we could do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be to create a transportation regime in the country that would move more freight and people by train. Instead, we have had 10 to 15 years of deregulation that has put more and more trucks on the highways. There are trucks on the highways that look like trains, for God's sake. There is less and less safety, more and more emissions and still there is no end to this madness.
I ask the parliamentary secretary, is there a plan? Does the government intend to use this opportunity that the climate changes presents it with to reverse the madness of the last 10 or 15 years by which we have deregulated in such a way to favour trucks over rail and have in fact created what I consider to be not only an environmental crisis, but a public safety crisis in terms of our highways and our environment.