Government Operations committee  I feel the same way. I left the Armed Forces at 24 and a half years, short of a full pension, because I had an opportunity in government that I couldn't refuse and I wanted to serve my country. VIA Rail did the same thing for me, and I'm proud to say that I've pretty much served

Government Operations committee  What's not known by a lot of companies is that, if a member has served for more than 10 years—I think, but remind me—he or she is allowed to have an all-expenses-paid move back to the place of origin where they were recruited. Can you imagine if a business has a need in either Co

Government Operations committee  My answer is short: information technology. We have disseminated information on social media and created partnerships with organizations with expertise, such as Veterans Affairs Canada and the Canadian Forces. The most important, however, has been our own military people. We ha

Government Operations committee  First of all, as I mentioned in my opening statement, I think exposure to military members' success is an example of success breeding success, and when that happens it is good to see the reservists. My colleague Ziad Nader agreed to go on an ExecuTrek, which is a trip to enable

Government Operations committee  I think it's really a matter of working with people who have already done the work in the past. We have learned from Amtrak, from the resources the company had put in place. We have found partners such as the defunct Canada Company, which is being replaced by a group of various

Government Operations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Jacques Fauteux and I am the director of government and community relations at VIA Rail. I am also a lieutenant-commander in the Canadian Forces. I have also had the honour and pleasure of serving other veterans in the Canadian Forces, the Depar

Transport committee  Thank you for the question. In this case, we held a competition, which is subject to international trade laws, as you know. In terms of the $900 million or so announced at the end of last December, the President of Siemens made a commitment to invest money in Canadian content or

Transport committee  Thank you for your question and your interest in our high frequency rail project. I can confirm that we continue to work on those studies jointly with our shareholder, the Government of Canada, particularly Transport Canada, to ensure the viability and fair investment of the Gov

Transport committee  In fact, we have done our work and we are also working with our counterparts at Transport Canada.

Transport committee  I believe you're mentioning high-frequency rail?

Transport committee  Deputy?

Transport committee  I did not mention this when I first answered, but I should point out that we are very happy to finally get a new fleet that will improve passenger accessibility and comfort. As to your question, sir, in the interest of competition, we would like as many bidders as possible in or

Transport committee  We're going to proceed with our competitive process at this time. The procurement process started in April of this year, and we intend to have an RFQ sent to bidders from Canada and to international bidders later this summer. It would be presumptuous on my part to tell you what

Transport committee  Madam Chair, I'm Jacques Fauteux, the the director of government relations for VIA Rail. VIA Rail doesn't have any specific statements to make other than to note that, with respect to the supplementaries (A), they provide stable operational capital and pension funding for us to

Transport committee  The funding that was announced yesterday in the federal budget will allow us not only to maintain our activities but also to continue to keep an eye on VIA Rail's strategic projects, the high-frequency rail project, as well as the renewal of our fleet. We are particularly happy w