Transport committee  It was extreme weather events, for sure. There was extreme heat throughout the prairies in the summer.

Transport committee  The short answer is that there has been an increased cost as a result of extreme climate change and extreme conditions. That is something that all of the railways are planning for in their contingency plans. One thing that I think the railways have been doing more and more of is reaching out to other subject matter experts in meteorological changes or extreme weather patterns.

Transport committee  First of all, the railways are taking advantage of all of the information that's available out there. We also work closely with Canadian universities. The University of Alberta, for example, has a very good rail-focused research group. There is a lot of interaction between the University of Alberta's rail research people there and our network.

Transport committee  I can tell you, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, that rail represents only 3.5% of GHG emissions in the transportation network in Canada. However, we have specific targets in place with Transport Canada for locomotive emissions. Those targets are in place on an annual basis and all of our members are—

Transport committee  First of all, railways have a common carrier obligation. We have an obligation to carry all resources and all goods. That's in the Canada Transportation Act. We don't pick and choose what we carry. We fulfill that common carrier obligation every day. In terms of the actual costs, again, I can't speak to—

Transport committee  Thank you for that question, because the differences between the U.S. and Canada when it comes to support for short lines has been an ongoing issue for some time. Today, we have CN and CP, which are the two class I's in Canada with us. They have the capacity and the ability to reinvest in our infrastructure at a fairly high rate.

Transport committee  They're a combination of several incentives. There are tax incentives and capital project incentives, but there is direct funding as well. It's no different than if a short-line were to apply to the national trade corridors fund. They would be entitled to have funds, or projects funded by the federal government with some matching contributions from the short lines.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, honourable members. My name is Marc Brazeau, and I am the president and CEO of the Railway Association of Canada. The Railway Association of Canada represents nearly 60 freight and passenger railways that transport tens of millions of people and approximately $320 billion worth of goods across the country every year.

Transport committee  I just want to be clear here, because there's probably some missing information. First of all, I extend the invitation to the mayor, Mr. Bourdeau, again, because we've provided training in Baie-D'Urfé, L'Île-Perrot and Vaudreuil to first responders. We provided training as early as last year, and we're available to do it again in this year.

Transport committee  As I mentioned earlier, we have set up a working group. We have been working with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and Transport Canada to obtain information that might be useful. Apart from that, there is other information we could perhaps share. All of this would help us obtain a better overview of the situation and develop programs that could improve safety.

Transport committee  Railway police services have the same capacities and powers as municipal and provincial services, and receive the same training. They work together with other police services when required. They exchange information and they collaborate, but the work done by the railway police services is important because their members are very familiar with everything affecting railways and they are on-site to deal with situations and to ensure that there are no trespassing or other incidents.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Jeneroux. Just to be clear, are you referring to the transportation of dangerous goods data, so that municipalities have information at their fingertips?

Transport committee  There is a protective direction that's in place for the sharing of that information. Again, as I mentioned, there's a program called Transcaer. Transcaer provides free training to first responders in municipalities across the country. When that training is received, and the individuals who have it need to have that kind of information, that information is shared with them by the railways through a mobile app.

Transport committee  As the mayor pointed out, Operation Lifesaver is an awareness program that has existed for years. It's a partnership between the industry and Transport Canada designed to make people aware of the importance of safety near railway tracks. It's an example of a program that would get municipalities and provinces across Canada more engaged in such initiatives.

Transport committee  That's a very good question. We have been asking the small companies that operate regional and tourist railways for increased and more tangible support. There are specific programs in the United States for regional railway operators, but there are no such programs in Canada. Small railway operators do not have the same capacity as the major railway companies that operate Class 1 railways.