Mr. Speaker, a question that has been raised in this debate—we listened to the minister speak earlier, just to remind people because we have had a bit of a break in the debate—is that this is an attempt to have some sort of balance of power between the shippers in Canada, which are seeking to move their products, of which 70% in Canada are moved by rail, and the railway companies, of which there are predominantly two. As the minister himself said, it is a competitive duopoly. In many parts of the country, it is not even a duopoly; it is a monopoly because there is only one service available.
So, in achieving some sort of balance of power between these two groups, the minister has suggested that there would be a tribunal of sorts, a way for dispute resolutions to be worked out.
However, when we look into details of the bill, we are now discovering that the dispute resolution mechanism, that way of solving those problems when the rail cars do not show up and the contracts are broken, will only be available to new contracts that are signed, as opposed to existing contracts.
I do not know how the minister can feel so confident that his bill would allow the Canadian economy, which relies on that freight being shipped, to progress in a better way if all those problems that have been existing for many years cannot get solved because the resolution is not offered to any contract that is already in existence.
I wonder if my friend could illuminate where that might be a problem in solving the real challenges we face.