Industry committee  Well, the question is, I guess--

Industry committee  Roads and everything?

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for coming. I find it interesting. When I was mayor, we had a lot of trains that went through my municipality, and we still do. He is not here right now, but Mr. Angus talked about transit and getting ridership up and those sorts of things.

Industry committee  I think you'll find that things usually will take place a step at a time. I think we need to respect the fact that we've tried to take one step, and I wanted to get to that. When I go to Europe, for example, there's an unbelievable rail system, and I want to go back to that. Actually, the numbers were amazing.

Industry committee  When you start talking these sorts of numbers, does this take in the actual capital cost of all the infrastructure, or is this just for the--

Industry committee  In comparison to a truck on the road, with the road--

Industry committee  Is that one of the things--

Industry committee  In terms of working with the industry in manufacturing, and I guess even beyond that, can you talk to us about any operational alliances you've built with the industry so that you can work together--for example, on technology, working together for the success of both industries?

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for being with us today. It's an interesting topic, obviously, and we've had a lot of discussions. And I think actually a lot of the questions get framed around the same issue of manufacturing--how can they be successful, how do the inputs from those who supply all sorts of energy to the industries...and make things a win-win situation.

Industry committee  I can see that's the case.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for coming out today to be part of the committee and talk to us about the program and the efficiencies and savings we can look at as a government for our taxpayers. On the Canadian Intellectual Property Office file, can you help me understand what it involves?

Industry committee  My understanding is that through that process over the years—I don't know how long--a significant amount of money has accumulated, somewhere around $50 million. How was that accumulated? Does it just sit in a slush fund?

Industry committee  Maybe you could explain that to me and how it compares to a slush fund.

Industry committee  I just want to follow Mr. Masse on the tourism issue, because we respect and acknowledge the significance of tourism in this country and what it does. We know that a number of factors affect tourism. You've relayed some of those factors as being the value of the dollar, energy costs, and whatever.