Industry committee  Well, we've had very clear communication with Transport Canada specifically and also with NRCan, our way to them, so one way, and I know they've obviously been dealing with it internally the best they can, but do we have any solutions in hand? No.

Industry committee  Overall, to be fair to the railways, we have good rail infrastructure in the country. Some areas have far more coverage than others, but overall we have a good rail system. It's a matter of dealing with some of the bottlenecks within the rail system and determining where they are, and those bottlenecks are more out of infrastructure than they are from cutbacks at the railway or what they're currently doing.

Industry committee  We are experiencing a container shortage. For example, coming up in June alone, out of the port of Vancouver, or I should say the west coast, there are nine missed sailings already with container ships. Until the export trade out of China and out of Asia matches what we need and things come back, we're going to continue to face this over the next six months at least, and it's something that doesn't correct itself overnight.

Industry committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members of Parliament. On behalf of Western Canadian Shippers’ Coalition, I would like to thank you for the invitation to participate in this session. My name is David Montpetit, and I am the president and CEO. WCSC is a cross-commodity organization focused on the safe, efficient and competitive movement of goods while optimizing the transportation sector, which will ultimately benefit the Canadian economy.

Transport committee  I'll just speak for WCSC. We have made some suggested amendments to tweak language in the proposed bill. Based on what is in the bill right now, if some of the suggested tweaks, plus some of the other areas that we had expressed to the government to look into, are adopted we think we can enhance the bill to make it a better bill than what was presented to us.

Transport committee  I can't honestly answer that one. What I can say, though, is if they can provide data in the U.S., there's no reason why they can't provide it here.

Transport committee  Okay.

Transport committee  It's very similar to the scenario we're facing in British Columbia.

Transport committee  You would have to take out these exemptions.

Transport committee  That would make it more effective, possibly.

Transport committee  It's not.

Transport committee  You're asking for something, actually, that's even more accelerated than what we're asking for. We're asking for data and we're recommending or are trying to improve on a three-week delay to be a seven-day delay. You're asking for something that's immediate; it's fluid data. Ultimately, we would love to have that available.

Transport committee  Absolutely. I wouldn't argue with you for one moment.

Transport committee  Several other countries and several other modes of transportation do provide real-time data. So, it's there and that's what we're competing with. I always stress with our group that we have to think about competing internationally, not just globally and not just locally. We have to look at a larger perspective.

Transport committee  I'm sorry, are you speaking about investigative abilities, those types of things?