Transport committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members, for allowing us to be here today. We believe that the St. Lawrence Seaway is a vital linchpin connecting the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence corridor. Today, we will give you a brief overview of our operation and structure, and some of our act

Transport committee  Perhaps I'll start my comments by looking at western Canada in terms of the role we play there. We compete with other gateways. That's the business we're in as the seaway and as Hwy H2O. The U.S. gulf is a very strong competitor of ours, particularly when it comes to project carg

Transport committee  We've done considerable work around the feasibility of moving crude oil via the Great Lakes, and yes, it is feasible. We can be competitive. Again, we've worked very closely with the railways in developing the total supply chain. They very much look to Thunder Bay as an option, b

Transport committee  We would be able to handle what we call a Seawaymax, which would not be the size of a Panamax, for example, that's going overseas. That's why we would be looking to transship in Quebec City. A unit train of crude oil carries about 80,000 barrels. A seaway-sized vessel is similar,

Transport committee  Our maximum would be 740 feet long.

Transport committee  It would be 80,000 barrels.

Transport committee  That's correct.

Transport committee  As I was saying, steel in particular is very important to us in that, if the steel volume decreases, that could have an impact on our grain exports as well. The two go hand in hand. Our concern would be, what does the future hold for steel as far as NAFTA is concerned?

Transport committee  Thank you. Let me start with fluidity. You asked about that, Vance. We spend a lot of time with our customers. Where we find the benefit is in data exchange. That's where we've been very successful in working with both the railways and the western Canada shippers, for example.

Transport committee  It's another example of where we actually expanded. We were able to work with one of the neighbours to get additional land, and we worked with our existing tenant at wharf 12, along with a local stevedoring company. I think next week our first containers will be coming through th

Transport committee  The ships will dock at wharf 12. That's correct.

Transport committee  Within the Welland Canal, we are somewhat limited in terms of the rail capabilities, so that's an opportunity that we would see moving forward. We have very good access into the U.S. from a highway standpoint, so we continue to see that as an opportunity. Again, I think our oppor

Transport committee  We certainly see an opportunity there, Mr. Badawey. As part of our mandate, we do confer with all of our stakeholders and municipalities. On the interface between public and industry, we think there is an opportunity, with some of the land we have, to have both coexist quite suc

Transport committee  We see opportunities in modal shift, such as moving traffic from the highways onto the water. For example, there has been quite a change in the trucking industry in the U.S. with the electronic logs that have been introduced. We expect to see this spinning off into Canada fairly

Transport committee  Just to clarify, in terms of our tenants and our stakeholders, we do work with them and encourage them to try to apply and take advantage of that funding, although, to date, we have not seen any funding for any of our tenants.