Mr. Chair, I am glad to have this opportunity to question the minister. I must say that in response to the last exchange, it certainly does stand out that the government is spending close to $100 million on rail safety and close to $600 million on tax-paid government advertising.
I would like to take the minister to Bill C-30, the issue of grain transportation in western Canada and the horrendous backlog of grain transport this last year. The industry is forecasting, and indeed, I think the minister herself used this number, that the carry-forward at the end of this particular crop year will be something in the order of 23 million tonnes that was grown last year but was unable to be shipped because the grain handling and transportation system failed so badly. If that is the carry-over on top of even a normal crop in western Canada this summer, the industry will be facing much the same challenge this year as it faced last year. It will be a huge problem for a great many farmers.
Will the government ensure that the system, which failed last year, will not fail this coming year, that it is ready to cope with that volume and that it is ready to cope with other exigencies, like difficult weather conditions? Will farmers have that assurance?