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Agriculture committee Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Ritz and committee members, my name is Sinclair Harrison, and I'm president of the Farmer Rail Car Coalition. This is Bob Barss, board member for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, which represents all municipalities and a
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee Thank you for the question. I think we're all here to support the farmers of western Canada. At the end of the day, that's our ultimate goal. We want a decision that will come up with the best solution. If we can resolve the ownership issue--as indicated, it is a $1.2 billion to
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee As I indicated, we have called for the Auditor General to look into this. Certainly we need some well-respected, independent body in this country to, first, look into why the $35 million wasn't spent, and, second, why the farmers of western Canada have been charged three times wh
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee Certainly we've looked at the airport transfer to not-for-profit corporations, such as we would be if we had gotten the asset. As far as the integrity of the cars is concerned, we are the users of those cars. There was another study done by the grain commission showing that ther
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee Right now the railroads have a monopoly on the maintenance. We are suggesting that in a commercial system, where they have to bid or compete for the business, history has demonstrated that sometimes prices come down. Our figures are based on the North American market. We've tal
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee I might add that the Government of Canada owns these cars. You would think they could go to the railroads and get the maintenance records. When you go to your garage about your automobile and ask what they spent on your car, they'll give you an itemized list. The federal governme
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee Thank you for the question. I think most of the answers lie in this document, as to how our plan would apply to the revenue cap. Essentially, what it says is the savings, the $3,000 per car that we're overpaying as farmers now, we would put into reserves, as the FRCC. We would h
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee That was for one year; $4,329 was for that one year.
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee Right.
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee That's what we're going to ask the Auditor General to examine: what's been paid.
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee We can't mix the two plans. The FRCC had a complete package, which is contained in this document, and when it is released, you will see how that would affect the revenue cap. The announcement by the minister, as we understand it, is that the federal government would retain owne
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee First of all, we question whether they did put in $1,700. On page 3 of that report, the actual direct cost for parts and labour going into the car was $1,083. That's the direct cost of maintenance. The figure on the front page--the $1,680--takes into consideration all administr
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee That's the same report.
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee No, I've got three reports.
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison
Agriculture committee No, these two are in the hands of Transport Canada. This is the study of what would happen to the revenue cap if a plan like the FRCC was put forward toward the cars. The second report, which is still confidential, is the QGI report on the inspection of the cars. This is the
May 16th, 2006Committee meeting
Sinclair Harrison