Mr. Speaker, the member for Wascana was here in 2001-02.
To answer his question succinctly, yes, to the first part about open rail and no, to Judge Estey's piece. I know he wanted that clarification.
The open access piece is intriguing. Let me explain what that means exactly to the folks who are listening tonight. Has it been done anywhere else, because it sounds revolutionary? Bell Telephone and SaskTel do it. They have the telephone line, which they had to open up years ago. There is a carriage fee for it. It is not done for nothing. Railroads and telephones are not quite the same. Railroading is dangerous. Logistics are needed. It is not as easy as saying we would like to run a train down there.
To the second part of my colleague's question, I would first and foremost go to the short line in this country to see what it would be able to do for us, and then I would look to the American side to see if it could take some. It is an intriguing option and it needs to be looked at. It should be put on the table so that we can actually decide what is doable and workable. It is about finding a way to move this grain now rather than later.