Transport committee  Let's face it, 10 years ago no one knew what a supply chain was, and now we're having committee meetings about it. It's very important now. But a supply chain is not just people sitting in a cab or on a train or on a boat. There is, as you point out, a whole layer with the digita

Transport committee  I would just say that whatever the requirements currently are for those industries, whether it's rail or trucking, they would obviously have to meet those requirements. There's often also a language issue involved, and I think that's a very important component of it.

Transport committee  Both Canadian railways, CN and CP, often tout their safety records, but in reality I think they could do a lot more to make it a safe workplace. Much of that burden is borne by those employees. As you point out, many employees who think the rail industry is a good place to work f

Transport committee  There probably are regulations already in place. The question is whether they are enforced.

Transport committee  I'm not a labour expert, but I think if we do have a framework that can attract workers from other places that has the potential for them to have good-quality jobs, and not only for half a year but for the whole year, that would be extremely good. It would not be that difficult t

Transport committee  I would say that, at this time, there's not much coordination, which is at the root of the problem. I think there needs to be more coordination throughout all levels of government to address this issue. Thank you.

Transport committee  I think that is part of the answer. Technology, as the example given.... Reducing the number of people on board a ship through the use of technology is helpful. I was recently at a member's facility where they now have robots stuffing and packing pallets. That takes the place of

Transport committee  My members are essentially shippers, so they would welcome any additional employees they could hire. The ability to do that.... The red tape around that could be reduced, which would facilitate that for everybody.

Transport committee  Thank you for that question. One problem with this is that it's not simple. In trucking, we're talking about a multi-jurisdictional industry. Each province has its own regulations and rules, and it's very hard to coordinate them all at the same time to have an even industry acro

Transport committee  As I said, it's almost a default career now. People default to trucking. It should be shown as a true vocation that is skilled, that requires a lot of responsibility, that pays very well and is a good environment to work in. Hopefully, that will attract more people to that indust

Transport committee  Well, in speaking to some of my members, there aren't many entering the industry today, so that is the problem. The average age is just getting older and older. It's a sort of lifestyle issue. People don't want to be on the road. They don't want to be away from their families. Th

Transport committee  Some of those things exactly.... Right now it would probably cost you about $10,000 to get the training required to get your licence to drive a big rig. There needs to be some acceptance that this is an important job. We saw that during the pandemic. If truck drivers hadn't conti

Transport committee  I can go first. I don't think they got any of them wrong. I think there are a lot of good ideas in there. The question is, can they all be implemented? Probably not. One that I personally like, although it doesn't have much to do with the labour issue, is strengthening the Can

Transport committee  Right. The trucking industry is extremely fragmented. There are many owner-operators, and there are big companies, too. The industry, as I mentioned, has about 70% turnover. We have one member whose turnover is 0.77%. We asked them what they are doing. They pay hourly wages so th

Transport committee  Certainly. I think it is apparent that people are working longer, and that is a good thing. We should take advantage of that. There is one area where I find an incongruity: that as we digitize the environment people work in, there's a potential that younger workers are much bette