Mr. Speaker, I will use my 20 minutes to speak to Bill C-14.
I am keen to speak on this bill, which is intended to update legislation on railway transportation, to redefine the mandate of the National Transportation Agency and to further deregulate air transportation.
Obviously, I will not be debating the entire bill, but rather setting out for you certain points that are of particular interest to me. We in the Bloc are opposed to Bill C-14 for a number of reasons. The provinces are not consulted on a number of points in the bill, including one of special interest to me-the environment.
As my colleague for Blainville-Deux-Montagnes, the former mayor of the beautiful municipality of Blainville, said yesterday in this House, clause 98 of Bill C-14 is incomplete, because it does not oblige the Agency to do an environmental impact study before authorizing the construction of a rail line, and this is totally unacceptable. I would remind you here of the unfortunate case of the Irving Whale .
In 1970, the Irving Whale sank off the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward Island. It was, of course, the Liberals who were running the country at the time. Are we going to entrust the environment, as in the construction of a huge rail line or a major section, to a government that showed no environmental concern in the infamous case of the Irving Whale ?
In 1994, we had a sort of committee, known as the Easter-Gagnon committee, that went around the Gaspé, Quebec and the Maritimes. Two backbenchers spent several thousand dollars of taxpayers' money for a political promotion. This was followed by the Department of the Environment's official consultation when the decision was made to raise the barge. The result was an outpouring of over $20 million, and the Irving Whale remains on the bottom.
You will ask me what all this has to do with the National Transportation Agency. The point is simply to show the danger of giving the federal government total jurisdiction over the environment. In fact, the environment is not covered by the Constitution and, until proof is provided to the contrary, it comes under provincial jurisdiction. Clearly, the construction of a railroad changes the rural and urban landscape.
The environmental impact must therefore be seriously considered and, moreover, the provinces should be consulted, since land use is their responsibility.
There is nothing surprising in this. It is one of many examples of the Liberal government's effrontery in pushing the provinces out of their own fields of jurisdiction.
I would be remiss as well if I did not talk about unfairness, since recently I have had a number of opportunities to raise this issue and today will be no exception. Like my colleague for Blainville-Deux-Montagnes, responsible for transportation issues at the federal level, pointed out earlier, eastern Canada faces a very serious problem-the abandonment of several shortline railroads. These sections were left discarded by the federal government and are now in bad shape, for the most part.
As you can easily imagine, once these lines are taken over as short line railways, operating them will not be so profitable, especially since the financial situation of short line railways is rather precarious because of the level of debt and because of the condition of the railways and bridges.
Eighteen months ago in my riding, in the great region of the Eastern Townships and Chaudière-Appalaches, the Quebec Central Railway abandoned the Chaudière-Vallée line, which goes from the city of Sherbrooke to Lévis and Lac-Frontière through Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, a distance of 382 kilometres.
The Quebec Central Railway gave such poor service and charged such high prices in its last 20 years of operation that it lost almost all its customers. Of course, it went before the National Transportation Agency, which gave it permission to abandon the line simply because it was not profitable.
At this point, I would like to remind you that, in the west, it is not necessary to demonstrate that a line is not profitable. Rather, it must be demonstrated that the line is not in the public interest. Since that is much harder to prove given the very large number of grain producers, it is much easier to abandon lines in the east than in the west. Once again, we are up against a double standard.
In the long term, this situation will lead to the failure of several projects and the abandonment of several rail lines. That is why a railway rehabilitation program would correct this situation, espe-
cially in the west and, of course, in the east. In the west, however, they speak a very different language. I often talk about the advantages given to western Canada, including the compensation offered western farmers after the WGTA was repealed and their subsidies eliminated.
While western farmers received nearly $3 billion in compensation, their eastern counterparts were forgotten. This is a perfect example of inequity and injustice. Once again, shippers must face the new transportation conditions in the west and adjust to a commercially oriented railway system. Giving unequal treatment to eastern and western shippers is dangerous, as an inequitably developed rail network will adversely affect the resources carriers can invest in the eastern network.
I have here two short sentences that add to the inequities between eastern and western Canada, including the abrogation of the WGTA announced last year. Maximum rates can be frozen until 1999. In concrete terms, for western grain producers, the ceiling set in 1995 will apply. Railway companies cannot increase it; it is frozen at the level it was at when the WGTA was repealed.
In addition, for over 15 years, these same producers have been allowed to use the government's fleet of hopper cars for free and, if they bought the 10 hopper cars for the transportation of grain, I am sure they would pay a reduced price.
Should we wish the same for Quebec? I doubt it. Quebec is a much larger territory than its neighbour, Ontario. Yet, the length of railway lines in Ontario is twice that of Quebec. Lines twice as long in a province almost half the size means there is actually four times more railways in Ontario. So, the inequity does not go back to this government coming to office: it existed long before 1867 and even before 1841.
Let us now look at construction and maintenance costs. Clause 103(3) provides that the owner of the land shall pay the costs of constructing and maintaining the crossing. Here is what this really means. I own a piece of land and there are 832 feet of railroad over it, cutting it in two. Since I have to cross from the west side to the east side of the railroad, the costs of maintaining the crossing are paid by the owner of the railroad. Now, under this bill, such costs would have to be paid by the owner of the land.
This makes no sense. Property rights pertaining to my farm existed long before the railroad was built. They go way back. Consequently, that clause alone is sufficient reason for me to condemn and to oppose that bill. Farmers who are listening to this debate on Bill C-14 must realize that if they use a private road to go from one side of their farm to the other, they will now have to maintain the crossing. The federal government just gave you a new responsibility, even though this area comes under provincial jurisdiction.
As I said earlier, the owner did not ask the railway company to encroach on his land. Consequently, the costs of constructing and maintaining the crossing must be paid by the company. After all, it uses the land. The same goes for fences. Not more than two weeks ago, it was reported in the newspapers that in Saint-Étienne, close to Quebec City, coyotes or stray dogs chased a herd of cattle over a railway fence and the CN convoy killed 49 animals.
Under this bill, fences would become the sole responsibility of the farmer. If you are a farmer and if a railroad runs over your land, you alone will have to pay for the whole fence, on both sides of the railroad, to keep your cattle from going on it. To those who might think this is fair, let me just say that Quebec's municipal code provides that the construction, maintenance and overall responsibility for fences are equally shared by the two owners. Any good notary knows that.
In its wisdom, the federal government is deciding that from now on you will have to put up your own fences. This will not do. It makes no sense.
Another point. When I was mayor of my municipality, I told you that each farmer had 832 feet, unless they had more than one piece of land. Over the years, a problem began to develop with drainage. As mayor, I met with the authorities of Quebec Central Railway, and it was mutually agreed that they would install two large culverts under the track. There was no problem. Do you know that, with Bill C-14, this would become the responsibility of the farmer? That does not make any sense either.
I would like to conclude with a look at the issue of running rights. In its present form, the bill allows a short line to transport merchandise to the nearest rail head, regardless of the national carrier chosen by the shipper. By giving provincially licensed railway lines running rights on federally licensed lines, a short line could deliver its freight to the rail head of any federally licensed company.
By transporting its freight over a greater distance, a short line would generate higher revenues, as well as offering improved service to its customers and cutting down on freight transfers. This is a logical and efficient improvement with respect to the running lines situation. And if the government is serious in saying that it wants to encourage the development of short lines, it must approve this proposal, which comes from our party, and in particular from the hon. member for Blainville-Deux-Montagnes.
In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to a businessman in my riding of Frontenac, Jean-Marc Giguère, president of Marco Express. For several years now, Mr. Giguère has been negotiating with the head office of Canadian Pacific to buy 382 kilometres of track linking Sherbrooke, Vallée-Jonction, Lévis and le lac Frontière, via Saint-Georges de Beauce.
Like many of his fellow citizens from Beauce, Mr. Giguère is a courageous and persistent fellow, and he has not given up yet. Every week he heads for Toronto to pursue the negotiations. It is a slow and difficult process. In the meantime, the track continues to deteriorate. Almost one mile of rails and ties was stolen right outside Bishopton. By a fluke, the thief was caught. He went to court and was ordered to reimburse just the value of the old iron, $5,200. How much is it going to cost the promoters to rebuild one mile of track?
That aside, I pay tribute to Jean-Marc Giguère and wish him every success in his efforts to buy and operate this new short line in the Eastern Townships.
