International Trade committee  If that is CP land, territory or tracks, yes, they would be impacted. Metrolinx owns a portion of its own trackage, but anything that follows on CP's tracks would be affected.

International Trade committee  It would.

International Trade committee  Yes. In fact, we had Rocky Mountaineer in town yesterday and part of today. They attended our committee meetings, our AGM and our short-line conference. We had great conversations there. They are gravely concerned. Their busy season starts around May 20, which is exactly when the labour unions will have the ability to strike.

International Trade committee  It would be the repeal of interswitching. Interswitching was tried before and it failed. It led to a chill on investment. We want to invest more. We want to sustainably grow and support our customers.

International Trade committee  Certainly. The impending dispute is of grave concern. CN and CP are now negotiating. They're in the mediation period. It involves 9,000 conductors and locomotive engineers across Canada. In addition, at CPKC, it involves 80 rail traffic controllers. That's where the passenger rail gets affected.

International Trade committee  I don't have exact data on Churchill, in particular. For shippers, as I'm sure my fellow panellists would attest, it's all about options. It's important to have another way for product to reach global markets. It's critical for them to have funding that allows a short line to be able to finish that work and to assure, again, their planning and their ability to proceed further into their strategic planning processes.

International Trade committee  Investment is what moves supply chains. It's what we need instead of prescriptive regulations. Investment in supply chains also needs to be looked at as a whole. Rail is one link, but, indeed, being able to invest and have a better policy regulatory framework that encourages investment would enable everybody in the supply chain.

International Trade committee  I gave an example in my opening remarks. Interswitching needs to be repealed. When it was used from 2014 to 2017, there was an indication that investment at that time was chilled. When the policy was repealed in 2017, investment rebounded for the railways—$21.5 billion in the last decade of private money into that network is significant.

International Trade committee  Certainly. I would be pleased to. Railroads are four times more fuel-efficient than trucks, generating significantly less greenhouse gases than trucks, both for passenger and for freight. It's the greenest mode of transport. There's been a lot of innovation done and efforts made.

International Trade committee  As an association we and our members advocate for dedicated track for passenger rail in order to accommodate the growth that's needed and predicted, or forecast, for both freight and passenger. We feel that it's the best way to go to assure that for the future—to future-proof it—to be able to take advantage of the greenhouse gas reductions that we can have from rail, to take advantage of the environmental advantages that rail offers.

International Trade committee  Grain is the predominant one, because it is focused on the three prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Yes, there could be other commodities that are affected, and I could perhaps provide your office with a more complete answer on that.

International Trade committee  I can't speak to the exact example you're asking about with Huron Central, but I know that in general for short lines the biggest problems are that these are often very small businesses that are operating infrastructure that is spun off from the class I's. Therefore, some of the lines and infrastructure they inherit, as they attempt to optimize and provide service to these rural and regional areas, need a lot of work right from the beginning.

International Trade committee  Sure. Thank you for the question. Interswitching is the transfer of goods between two railways. It's a very common practice that's been done, really, since railways existed. The problem with extended interswitching is that the kilometre limits grew from 30 kilometres to 160 kilometres.

International Trade committee  I think our railways right now are facing an incredible amount of regulation, in particular stacking regulations. Investment is what moves supply chains rather than prescriptive regulation. The railways feel that they need a policy and regulatory framework that would encourage investment and allow them to grow, along with their shippers, into global markets.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. It depends on the demand that comes in. Our freight railways have a common carrier obligation, and they move what's presented to them. They also ensure that there's a system approach so that their cars are moving most efficiently to serve their customers at three coasts.