Transport committee  Yes.

Transport committee  Since VIA Rail has managed the fleet renewal project well, I invite my colleague to answer your question.

Transport committee  I'm sorry, but I didn't hear your question properly. Is it about the fleet renewal or the high frequency rail proposal?

Transport committee  In our view, the fleet renewal procurement is progressing very well. The project has come in and is ahead of schedule. That's exactly why the amount is there. We're pulling it ahead because VIA is ready to begin the payment schedule earlier than anticipated. That positions VIA Rail, in our view, very well on two fronts.

Transport committee  As my colleague from VIA Rail said, we are now working together on issues related to the high frequency rail project between Quebec City and Toronto. VIA Rail did a very good job in analyzing this project. However, the project must progress with due diligence, given the complexity of the project.

Transport committee  Madam Chair, as the member indicated, we are seeking to access those funds to make progress through assessments and plans to remediate contaminated sites in the Transport Canada portfolio. We unfortunately have a fairly large portfolio of contaminated sites, and so a couple of the key priorities right now would be in Yukon, for example, Watson Lake, and in the Whitehorse airport, there is soil contamination—

Transport committee  Those funds are going to the broad portfolio of contaminated sites across the country.

Transport committee  Okay, we'll certainly take a look at that in the context of managing the portfolio.

Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. We are pleased to be here with our colleagues from Infrastructure Canada to take part in these discussions. Officials from Transport Canada, the Crown corporations, agencies, and administrative tribunals that make up the Transport Canada portfolio work every day to make Canada's transportation system safer, more reliable, more efficient, and more environmentally responsible.

Transport committee  At this point, that committee is really the deputy ministers. There's a committee of the deputy ministers of transportation, and there's a subcommittee of working officials under that. The membership is me and my colleagues in provincial transport ministries from across Canada; essentially, that is the membership right now.

Transport committee  Thank you, Minister. As the minister indicated, he tasked me to work with our provincial transportation colleagues in developing the immediate measures that were put in place on the day Greyhound closed down in terms of the transition of bus services. We were also tasked by our ministers to begin work on the future of transportation in the long term.

Transport committee  I think that is exactly the kind of question that we'll be working through. We'll be looking at the challenges that communities are facing and looking at the challenges that different members in the communities are facing, particularly those who have barriers to transportation because they don't drive or because they have mobility issues, etc.

Transport committee  It's a great question and strikes to the heart of multiple priorities at Transport Canada departments. The short answer is yes, the dialogue is happening. It's certainly happening at the ministerial, prime ministerial, and I would say elected representative level, and it's happening at the officials' level.

Transport committee  I might turn that to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Transport committee  Excuse me. I'll turn it over to my colleague from the Canadian Transportation Agency.