Transport committee  The approach to drafting the request of a shipper to a railway for a service agreement and then the request to an arbitrator, if a shipper wasn't successful in the request for a commercial agreement, was using high-level language that very much mirrors the existing obligations on railways under what we call the “common carrier obligation”, which is section 113 of the Canada Transportation Act.

Transport committee  The approach taken in the bill to ensure compliance is the use of an administrative monetary penalty mechanism, to ensure in that way that there is a strong incentive to comply with the agreement. The specific issue of penalties raised by the shippers, as the department and the minister noted when we were here the last time, is that there were issues around asking what is effectively a regulatory agency to predetermine penalties before a breach takes place.

Transport committee  The agency will have to consult with stakeholders to establish who will be on the list.

Transport committee  I simply want to add that the shippers told us they did not want the decisions to be made public because the information they contain is commercially sensitive. That was made very clear during the consultations.

Transport committee  Thank you.

Transport committee  It would be the agency, not the arbitrator, because this will be after the agreement is in place and there is actually a breach to assess. The agency will have the discretion to apply the right penalty for each case and to apply a penalty that they believe is commensurate with the breach.

Transport committee  The $100,000 amount, when you're setting an amount for an administrative monetary penalty scheme, you really are starting from the context of the act that you're working from, and the current maximum amount for breaches of orders of the agency under the act is $25,000. Again, it's a relative issue to factor.

Transport committee  The railway will see what the shipper is asking for and have the opportunity to provide its own view of what service should be required, and then the arbitrator will make a decision. There will also be in the process an opportunity for the two sides to question each other. The railway would be able in that kind of a situation to say, we've been serving you at this particular level for the last 10 years, and we don't understand you're now saying you need something different.

Transport committee  That would be a question for the group that reviews requests. I cannot give you a very specific answer.

Transport committee  I remember there were some.

Transport committee  I believe there were a few, but most of the requests came from ports and shippers' associations. There were some large shippers and some medium-sized ones. I remember some—

Transport committee  The bill contains a clause on expertise and knowledge. It reads as follows: “Only persons who, in the Agency's opinion, have sufficient expertise to act as arbitrators are to be named in the list.”

Transport committee  I don't quite understand.

Transport committee  —because it's difficult for us, not being in that day-to-day business. At a very general level, I would say that our understanding of the way the railway business has traditionally worked is it's very much based on these publicly posted tariffs. That is the standard approach for determining the rate that shippers are going to pay and setting out some general service parameters.

Transport committee  We don't have statistical information. When shippers speak to us about service, they speak very generally about the overall relationship. They say things are working much more smoothly now than they were in the past, that the communication is much better, that they have an open door with their service representative and they stay in close touch, that sort of thing.