Mr. Speaker, I live in a region and represent a place that relies heavily on our ability to move product to market. I am talking about a lot of small lumber towns, small cattle operations and farmers of various sorts.
What we have found over the years is that the smaller they are, the more mistreated they are by the large rail companies. I know that the view is shared across both sides of the House that small operators, whatever the industry, have tended to get short shrift as CN, in particular, and CP and others have become more interested in the big fish in the market and less interested in those small operators that actually built up the company from day one.
We had some improvements and amendments to make to the dispute resolution mechanism, based not on our own particular views but on the testimony we heard from those very same shippers. There are concerns that the arbitration method and the fines that are to be levied are not of enough consequence for the company to actually change its behaviour and its ways, particularly because these companies are so massive. I am talking about the rail companies that turn such extraordinary profits. There is not the motivation to actually correct the behaviour and change basic business practices.
We only get to do this once every so often. It is not very frequent that the House is seized with changing and improving our rail system. While the NDP members are supporting this bill, our lament is that the government did not listen to any of the amendments that came forward. It did not listen to any of the advice that came forward from some of those very shippers it now claims to defend.
It is a curiosity to me that the government was so intransigent over evidence brought before the committee. Why go through the exercise if it is not willing to listen to the facts?