Mr. Speaker, I do want to point out that the rail line in the Gaspé was owned by CN. The government allowed CN to sell the railway to the municipalities. The municipalities in the Gaspé are the owners, not a private corporation per se, but a conglomeration of all the municipalities.
The government allowed the track to deteriorate to the state that it was in. It now says it washes its hands of it, that it is no longer responsible because it allowed the sale to provincial municipalities. That is abdication of responsibility. It should have ensured that the track was in a good state in the first place before it allowed the sale. It did not. It did not order an engineer's report. It simply evaluated the value of the track based on CN's own numbers. That is just not the proper due diligence. The government failed in its obligations.
What it should do now is make up for that and ensure the track is safe. It is in fact safe, according to the corporation that owns it. As of June, VIA Rail no longer has reason not to start service again in the Gaspé. The government should not hide behind this arm's-length argument. As the parliamentary secretary pointed out, the government invests heavily in VIA Rail. VIA Rail will come to the Gaspé if it has proper support from the government. I would argue at this point that it does not have adequate support.