moved for leave to introduce Bill C-394, an act respecting the commercialization of VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to say this is a very timely bill but I would be incorrect if I said that. In actual fact it should have been introduced a long time ago.
VIA Rail loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The target it introduced in its latest annual statement indicated that it would be able to bring it down to about $200 million a year. That is about as far down as VIA can get it. That is over half a million dollars a day. It is time we put an end to this.
It is timely in one sense. It seems ironic that I am introducing a bill that will seek to stop the erosion of taxpayers' money by over half a million dollars a day on the eve of the day that we are to vote on compensation for hepatitis C victims. The government is saying it does not have sufficient money. This might be a good way to take it toward that goal.
It has another effect, that is to prevent something that is very serious, a predator move by VIA Rail in the past against the private sector at a time when we are looking at public-private partnerships as a way out of things.
There is not tremendous detail in the bill other than to provide a directive toward its disposal. I leave it to the House and to the committee when it reaches the committee stage to add the details necessary for the betterment of all taxpayers.