Transport committee  I'll get back to you with a more complete answer on the marine and rail applications. I don't have any data in front of me at the moment.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, any time you mishandle any fuel, you're going to have an accident. What happened at a facility in Toronto was probably the result of some things not being done as they should have been done. It should not paint the industry or the players that are there today, or the product itself.

Transport committee  In the province of today, every propane facility of any size must have something called a risk and safety management plan. There are two types: one for larger facilities that have more than 5,000 U.S. water gallons on site, and one for those that have less than 5,000 U.S. water gallons on site.

Transport committee  It's done now. You can actually put together a propane grid for a residential community. You won't see the tank in your home. When you turn on your dryer, your fireplace, or your cooktop, it's all on propane. It's perfectly safe. It comes in as a liquid, like anything else, just like methane or natural gas.

Transport committee  Not necessarily. It doesn't have to be. It could be off-site.

Transport committee  Basically a suburban neighbourhood today has a grid that fuels the neighbourhood. You don't see the spaghetti piping of natural gas. Propane would be the same thing. The fuel tank would be off-site somewhere else. You wouldn't see it. There could be a network right under the homes to fuel everything that you want done in your house, including your hot water tank, furnace, fireplace, stove, dryer—even your lights.

Transport committee  It is minimal. There are few, actually. The tradition in Canada has been that people have perceived propane as a means to an end, not an end unto itself, not as a solution. To be honest, we're trying to change that and position propane as a solution, because it can do everything for the consumer or business that you want it to do.

Transport committee  The back half of your question is easier to deal with than the front half. The best prices offered to the consumer are usually the market prices. Competition usually dictates the best price for the consumer at the end of the day. Where there are more players in the market, you see better prices.

Transport committee  It does not currently exist in many places in Canada. There are a couple of examples—British Columbia has a couple—but you don't see a lot of it. Typically, you see—

Transport committee  Well, sure it would. If you've got a propane tank at your house, you could fill from the existing infrastructure.

Transport committee  I guess history has a way of repeating itself. It's many different things. Part of it is that the technology back then was not as good as it is today. That technology led some people away from propane. Once you lose a customer, it's hard to bring that customer back. We're now at a point where technology has advanced so much that you literally can drive your fleet or pickup truck and not have to hit a switch anymore; it's all done.

Transport committee  Correct.

Transport committee  The first thing the industry did was form the Canadian Propane Association. We're a new industry association based in Ottawa, with offices across Canada. It's education; it really boils down to industry getting out there and telling individuals like yourselves about the options and technology available today.

Transport committee  We will go through the regulations and we'll give you our response right down to the paragraph as well as we possibly can. The short answer to your question is yes. Those conversations have begun, and they probably only began in the last couple of years. They take time. We'll acknowledge that part of our challenge in the industry is to address the image issue that your colleague over here referred to.

Transport committee  Chair, thank you very much for the question. Our relationship with the municipalities is actually pretty good in many areas across the country. We have an awful lot of people at the local level working with the municipalities on their various regulations and on implementation.