Transport committee  We really don't have a sense of that. The government's expectation is that there will be an attempt to respect the agreements that are imposed by the arbitrator. The specific amounts, they go to the consolidated revenue fund. It's a feature of administrative monetary penalty regimes that this is where they go, and there's no specific attribution of them to any particular activity.

Transport committee  I really can't answer that. I'm not aware.... I simply know that those schemes do exist in other statutes. My understanding is they just go to the consolidated revenue fund. They're not dedicated to particular purposes.

Transport committee  No, it's not damages.

Transport committee  It's compliance.

Transport committee  The bill does not contemplate any particular consequences for the shipper in the arbitrated service agreement. If the railway is dissatisfied with the way the shipper is respecting the agreement, then that would be something the railway could address on its own. For example, if it were something very egregious, it could use the courts to sue the shipper.

Transport committee  No, there's just the final offer arbitration.

Transport committee  The only obligations on the shipper will be operational matters. For example, for the railway to deliver cars to the shipper, the shipper has to be there and ready to load those cars. The shipper would need to have a crew there. If the shipper is asking for certain service elements in a service agreement, the bill says that the arbitrator can look at whether there are operational requirements that the shipper has to follow, and put those in the agreement as well.

Transport committee  There were 140 submissions to the rail freight service review panel.

Transport committee  Yes, that's right. Railway companies have told us that these agreements usually span one or two years.

Transport committee  The money will in fact go into the federal government's consolidated revenue fund. This is a feature of all administrative penalty systems, as stipulated by law. This system is no different. We want to encourage railway companies to respect these agreements. Arbitration will ensure this.