Transport committee  You know that 50 years Cliff talked about? All we're talking about now is giving people an option that the rest of the world already has. This is not about whether I should take the bus or my car or the train. It's giving me the option.

Transport committee  Well, I don't want to ramble. We're non-partisan. I want to make sure that we're very clear about that. We're not Liberal, Bloc, or NDP. When we talk about the--

Transport committee  Yes, but Freud is dead. I want to put things in perspective. When they announced the money for VIA for that third line to cut down the times, that was a positive thing. But I want to put it into perspective for you to show how bad things are. They said that they were going to cut a half-hour off their time, and it is now going to be four hours to get from Toronto to Montreal.

Transport committee  That is the number one thing I try to clear up about high-speed rail when I travel the country. We have way more than enough population to support high-speed rail. That is an argument that road engineering consultants used for 20 years in Canada to say why we shouldn't have one.

Transport committee  —and on the other side of the border, they are making some improvements. There has been money put forward to put in another track for customs, so that they're not with freight in Vancouver. I think what we need to do, though, is raise the profile. I've been asked to come with our organization to Vancouver to educate people, to say that this is a viable option.

Transport committee  First of all, I'm not here to praise the American president, but his vision on passenger rail.... When people like me, who like passenger rail—we're passionate and we like high-speed rail—heard his speech, it was on our website about six seconds later. To answer your question specifically on the Vancouver--Seattle corridor, I was on a couple of radio shows last week, and we talked about it; I debated it.

Transport committee  It's common technology in the rest of the world. The two never meet. You usually go above ground. Germany sometimes has level crossings. But this is not new; we're talking of 28 years now in France, and a 100% safety record. This is old news. Siemens just did Moscow-Petersburg, again entirely grade-separated, with no chance of auto meeting train.

Transport committee  I just wanted to add--and maybe we haven't mentioned it--that you would get your two high-speed rail corridors, but it also means you have a regional transportation system with passenger rail that still exists. VIA would still exist, and not only would you connect with your light rail and your buses inner-city, but inter-city you wouldn't....

Transport committee  Thanks for the question. Again, for two corridors, it is my opinion that they have the potential for high-speed rail over 200 kilometres: Calgary-Edmonton and Ontario-Quebec. They can choose to go higher speed, which is what Cliff had mentioned with VIA Rail, going a little quicker on the same track as VIA, as the freight trains, but those are the two corridors.

Transport committee  It's depressing in Canada when I look at the rest of the modern world. People always ask me to give them an example in Europe or Asia, and I just name off the countries. I had a reporter a couple of weeks ago saying to me the technology is there now. I said the technology was there 30 years ago.

Transport committee  Thanks a lot. High Speed Rail Canada is a non-profit organization. I just want to let you know right off the top that we are non-partisan. We don't accept any money from the Railway Association of Canada, Bombardier, Siemens, and Alstom. That gives us a lot of credibility when we go out and do public symposiums, and we have our website to educate Canadians.