Human Resources committee  Well, carmen are trained to make sure, when they look at cars coming in from foreign railways or their own railways, that they fit the standards. Railway cars are somewhat complex. It's the same with locomotives. These people receive training within the railway itself. When we hire people during a strike, be it managers or retirees, we take people from the same trades to do the same work, obviously, because we cannot train people off the street.

Human Resources committee  In the case of a locomotive engineer, we're talking six months of training. Clearly, we do not take people off the street, to answer your question.

Human Resources committee  That's right. We don't bring in replacement workers. We use managers and retired employees, which we did in the CAW strike in 2004.

Human Resources committee  Sure. I can do it in French, if you want me to. I apologize to the interpreter. Anyone who has been to China and met the Chinese exporters or shipping companies can tell you that one of the first questions asked to any visiting Canadian delegation pitching for an increase in Asia's North American trade through Canada is, what about your labour situation?

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Sean Finn. I'm the senior vice-president and chief legal officer at CN. Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure for us to be here today and to have the opportunity to give you our comments on Bill C-257. We at CN take Bill C-257 very seriously and view it with great concern.