Mr. Chair, an important decision was taken in terms of our transportation infrastructure and how we provide transportation in the country when we determined to go forward on a marketplace-based system. In doing so, a number of strong actions were taken. One of them was moving out of the Canadian ports corporation and into these free-standing, independent, self-financed, self-regulated port authorities, and it has been an incredible success when we look at what has been accomplished in moving to that model. We have seen an increase in productivity in the transportation sector of over 30%. Those are real and important gains to ensure efficiency in our transportation system that gives us that global competitive edge.
The ports are an integral part of our transportation sector, whether in St. John's, Newfoundland, Port Metro Vancouver, or Prince Rupert. They all listen to their local communities' needs and their wants in order to balance the economic and community benefits that they bring. Their focus, however, is on marine shipping and they continue to stay at the cutting edge of what is important.
Our world-class tanker safety system will work very well with what we are doing in ports. It is another step along the way to a modern marine system, one that is envied around the world.