Transport committee  The investments actually allowed us to keep up, and in some cases stay a little ahead of the curve in terms of the growth. What's gone on is that at the same time as we've been investing, the volumes have grown very substantially. I'll give you just a couple of indications of that.

Transport committee  I can't give you any hard numbers. My colleagues may have a view specifically from a particular company's point of view, but I must tell you, we haven't tried to do a financial impact analysis of Bill C-8. Our largest concern, as I said earlier, sir, is not so much with the specifics, although we do believe some change is necessary to the current act in front of you; it's more with the perception that may be created that we're shifting back towards regulation of prices, and that perception is something quite—

Transport committee  I know and I come from Inverness. Somebody changed it about 200 years ago. I blame my ancestors for that.

Transport committee  Let me start, and then I will ask my colleague from CN to speak, but I'm also going to ask Mr. Allen to say a few words. One of the things we haven't talked about today is the role that short lines play in all of this, and frankly, it's a very important role, particularly in the context that you just raised, sir.

Transport committee  I'll let my colleagues comment because they've had direct experience with this process.

Transport committee  The short answer is no, we will invest. We need to invest. It's part of our business. It's very important. The point I'm trying to make today to the committee is to be careful how far you go down that road. Every step you take toward further re-regulation, if you want to characterize it that way, is a step closer to having negative impacts on the perception of the investor.

Transport committee  What we're saying is that in most commercial dispute settlement processes, two things happen. The first thing that happens is to determine whether or not there's a legitimate basis for recourse or for restitution. In other words, did we break the rules? Did we do something we shouldn't have done?

Transport committee  No, this table tracks basic rates. It doesn't track rates that come and go on an ancillary basis. It's much more difficult to get that, because it varies all over the place.

Transport committee  We will very much participate in the rail service review the minister has said he wants to launch after the bill has been dealt with. From our point of view, we see it as an opportunity to do a number of things. First, it's an opportunity, obviously, to talk about service issues, if there are any out there, and what they are and what their nature is.

Transport committee  In the early part of that chart, if you look at the piece around the 1990s as opposed to what's been going on since about 2000-01, you'll see the volumes are fairly stable, but you'll see they've started to go up in the last four or five years. In the 1990s two issues were at work.

Transport committee  Yes. The question of balance when it comes to small shippers is a legitimate public policy question. We have never questioned that. But to say that some of the people we do business with are small, disadvantaged companies...we do business with some of the largest corporations in the world.

Transport committee  That's why we have never said there isn't some need within the system. Our view has always been to let the commercial market world work as much as possible. I want to briefly address the question of a monopoly.

Transport committee  Sure.

Transport committee  I may have seen it, but I must tell you I don't recall it right off the top of my head.

Transport committee  It very much depends on where you look in the system. If you look out on the west coast, just to take that as one example, some of the big issues are the interfaces with the various players—port authorities, marine company shippers, terminals, us, truckers—and making all that work efficiently.