Industry committee  That could be a potential distortion, but the registry, if it is implemented and enforced—and the key is enforced—should capture that. The overall question is will we have an issue of competitiveness as the carbon tax becomes further implemented and phased in more and more? Ultimately, it gets to around 14¢ a litre.

Industry committee  We have been told they will be.

Industry committee  The tax is consumed not at point of purchase, but where you travel. The accuracy of the reporting needs to be in place. It goes back to the general question when we opened our dialogue. I'm not trying to evade the question. If the law is applied to everyone, then the law is the law and the costs are the costs borne by us all.

Industry committee  With regards to the carbon tax registry?

Industry committee  They've inquired.

Industry committee  No, they've inquired as to what they need to do, and have educated their membership on it.

Industry committee  The answer to that question is that I know some of those answers, but not all of them. There are some concerns about the registry from the carrier community in terms of how they interact with the CRA at this point. We have a month to launch, so we are hoping things will be dealt with.

Industry committee  We know there are some concerns about the registry.

Industry committee  Sure. I have them all in my speech, and I had to look over them. In terms of your first question, if the company bought five trucks at about $1 million each.... I want to put a big asterisk here: this doesn't downplay it, but assumes that the company is profitable. That's always an important reminder, because my members would say, “Hey, well, we have to make money to get this.”

Industry committee  There are challenges. There definitely are.

Industry committee  The issue here is that we will now have a carbon tax in Canada for the trucking industry, starting April 1. It will vary, depending on whether a province has a carbon tax in place or not. It gets further complicated as the years go on because there is a set schedule over the next four years for the carbon tax to increase.

Industry committee  Overall, just so that everyone understands, we are the only freight industry, transportation-wise, that's regulated for carbon emissions, so all of our equipment is currently regulated for carbon emissions. We've had a first round; we have a second round coming. We've supported that issue.

Industry committee  I think the answer to the question is that at times it's a challenge and sometimes that challenge goes away. You're dealing with enforcement policies and people—and I emphasize people—and different people take different approaches. I will compliment the federal governments on both sides of the border for working with the industry.

Industry committee  We are monitoring it. We have not heard anything as yet. We have concerns as an industry, and we will continue to monitor that situation. Our overall position is that we would like to see mandatory drug and alcohol testing for all commercial truck drivers in Canada.

Industry committee  It's not something that the alliance has really looked into. We have our challenges right now attracting individuals. At times, carriers might work with smaller individuals to leverage the marketplace and work with them individually. The overall challenge right now isn't purchasing the trucks; it's finding professionals to actually operate the trucks.