Agriculture committee  Sure. It's really a simple logistics issue that the safe transport of animals and the legal transport of animals, especially on those longer hauls, involves the supply chain. The movement of livestock has expanded in terms of the length of hauls, so that requires the truck drivers at times to stop.

Agriculture committee  I can't speak to the supply chain in terms of how it works concerning the delivery of animals. I was educated myself as a trucker. We became educated ourselves. The problem with watering swine in the heat is that it can cause a heart attack.

Agriculture committee  I guess there's the generic.... We're accepting of those regulations. There will always be some to and fro about what works and what doesn't, but at the end, we have acceptance of that. We want to move forward with the regulation for all the reasons the other panellists mentioned.

Agriculture committee  The question of animal health prior to transportation and then upon delivery is one that's ongoing between my membership and the customers, and it's a high priority. Drivers are trained to identify animals that perhaps shouldn't be moved. Also, the farmers themselves who are loading the trucks will go through that process, so there is a check and a countercheck.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and committee members. By way of background, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is a federation of provincial trucking associations from across Canada. We represent over 4,500 trucking companies. Our members are both big and small. If you did it on a numbers count, the vast majority of our members would be 20 trucks or less.

Industry committee  It's diesel. Diesel is king right now, and diesel will be king for the foreseeable future. There was an article—

Industry committee  They're testing it, but in the short term, especially if you're a small business.... Think of yourself as a small business in trucking. We're hyper-competitive. Do you really want to introduce whatever technology it is that's high risk and jeopardize your whole business structure?

Industry committee  To be honest with you, because of the hyper-competitive nature of the trucking industry, it has to be a certainty. You don't compete based on your equipment; you compete on other factors. Therefore, your equipment has to be certain. If you leave from Toronto to go to L.A., you need to know that you're going to be able to fuel that run with complete certainty and that you're going to be able to maintain that vehicle with complete certainty.

Industry committee  Sure. We have a significant issue in our industry. We have thousands of small trucking companies and drivers who are misclassifying themselves to gain tax advantages that should be given to small businesses. Jane gave a great speech today about the challenges of small business.

Industry committee  I'm getting there. What's happening is that there are thousands of drivers who work for these hundreds of trucking companies that have said, “No, you don't have to take any risk; you're going to incorporate yourself.” Then Steve Laskowski incorporates himself and he is a small business.

Industry committee  Correct. There are returns on investment on that equipment, but you need the money to make those investments.

Industry committee  Yes. We have inquired into that and how that is being enforced. As you pointed out, the rule is whether you're in the United States for 10 minutes, an hour or a full day—an hour is equal to a day. To be honest with you, I have not heard of any issues on that front. It does not mean that they can't come.

Industry committee  The issue here is more the American enforcement of this issue, and are they going to require taxes to be paid? Is the Canadian government going to enforce this requirement back home? We have asked the government for exemptions for truck drivers on this issue, because they are in the United States for so long.

Industry committee  Sure. Right now the Province of Quebec has what we refer to as a green fleet program. Money gained from their carbon tax allows for rebates on the different trucking technologies on the trucks: trailers, fairings, tires and wings. Our point on the carbon tax is that if this public policy statement is about to send a message to the economy and those in the economy that you need to go green, if we do not have an incentive to switch fuels—because we don't, as we have no alternative fuels available—then we're saying to those who are taxing us that we want the money back to us to green our equipment to reduce carbon emissions, as opposed to going into general coffers.

Industry committee  It's an important project. You hit the nail on the head: It's a long stretch of road. I have not seen the latest estimates for that. It is an important stretch of road. From an economic standpoint beyond public safety, again, I opened up the presentation with highway 185 from Québec.