Transport committee  I'm not aware that anybody has done any studies to show what the extra costs are.

Transport committee  They would definitely vary from industry to industry.

Transport committee  If a group FOA were done, it would likely be done by either shippers in the grain industry or shippers in the forest products industry. So I guess the easiest lines to draw would be based on the industry. They would be sectoral lines.

Transport committee  I think, first of all, that over time it will facilitate a better relationship between shippers and railways. At the start it won't; somebody is going to go away unhappy. But once the bill becomes law, everybody will learn how to live with it. I think these changes to the act re

Transport committee  No, we've been working on this together for quite a long time. I'm just trying to remember whether it started with Bill C-26 or Bill C-44. There have been a number of coalitions that have tried to come together, and as Wade mentioned, there were a number of people who had speci

Transport committee  I can't remember how many people there were. There must have been about 80 or 90 people in this meeting, from both the government side and the shippers. We came to a consensus in the dialogue with Transport Canada and a representative from the minister's staff as well. As a resu

Transport committee  Yes, that is our position, that's our preferred position, that the bill be passed as written. I do understand there are, for example, several administrative issues that related to the timing of this bill and Bill C-11, which has become law. That will mean there will be some techn

Transport committee  As I was responding to Mr. Volpe, first of all, we think it is necessary, fundamentally necessary. If somebody had to say to me which is the most important provision in the bill, I would say probably this one. They're all important, but if you pushed me, that's probably what I wo

Transport committee  Yes, I can do that. Let me find my papers here.

Transport committee  I think you'll know who the players are from the beginning anyway, because the group would have to come together and file a complaint, and in the complaint that would be filed with the agency, clearly, the members of that group would be enumerated in the complaint. Also, the natu

Transport committee  Yes, I can, Mr. Laframboise. It manifests itself in a number of ways, but I think the simplest way to start describing it is to say there are certain parts of the country where there is only one railway option, and a couple of places come to mind. In the Atlantic provinces, for

Transport committee  No, we wouldn't be in favour of that.

Transport committee  We don't think it's necessary. If a group comes together for final offer arbitration, under the existing provisions of the bill, the agency will have a role in determining whether the members of that group are legitimate or not. We think the administration of that provision that

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We'll be a lot less than ten minutes with the opening remarks. Again, we do appreciate the opportunity to appear before the standing committee to discuss Bill C-8. The Coalition of Rail Shippers is comprised of 17 industry associations, and

Transport committee  No. As we have said, we think this is an excellent starting point. When one is a witness in a court one should never offer any additional information, but I'm going to do it anyway. I should say that this didn't address all of the issues that shippers raised when we were origin