Agriculture committee  I mentioned a company by the name of AllTranstek, out of Chicago. We searched the North American market. They manage the maintenance on 100,000 cars. They have the expertise and they have a wide range of cars. We think we have the people and the wherewithal to manage the fleet an

Agriculture committee  That was for one year; $4,329 was for that one year.

Agriculture committee  Right.

Agriculture committee  That's what we're going to ask the Auditor General to examine: what's been paid.

Agriculture committee  We can't mix the two plans. The FRCC had a complete package, which is contained in this document, and when it is released, you will see how that would affect the revenue cap. The announcement by the minister, as we understand it, is that the federal government would retain owne

Agriculture committee  First of all, we question whether they did put in $1,700. On page 3 of that report, the actual direct cost for parts and labour going into the car was $1,083. That's the direct cost of maintenance. The figure on the front page--the $1,680--takes into consideration all administr

Agriculture committee  I might add that the Government of Canada owns these cars. You would think they could go to the railroads and get the maintenance records. When you go to your garage about your automobile and ask what they spent on your car, they'll give you an itemized list. The federal governme

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. I think most of the answers lie in this document, as to how our plan would apply to the revenue cap. Essentially, what it says is the savings, the $3,000 per car that we're overpaying as farmers now, we would put into reserves, as the FRCC. We would h

Agriculture committee  Certainly we've looked at the airport transfer to not-for-profit corporations, such as we would be if we had gotten the asset. As far as the integrity of the cars is concerned, we are the users of those cars. There was another study done by the grain commission showing that ther

Agriculture committee  Right now the railroads have a monopoly on the maintenance. We are suggesting that in a commercial system, where they have to bid or compete for the business, history has demonstrated that sometimes prices come down. Our figures are based on the North American market. We've tal

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. I think we're all here to support the farmers of western Canada. At the end of the day, that's our ultimate goal. We want a decision that will come up with the best solution. If we can resolve the ownership issue--as indicated, it is a $1.2 billion to

Agriculture committee  As I indicated, we have called for the Auditor General to look into this. Certainly we need some well-respected, independent body in this country to, first, look into why the $35 million wasn't spent, and, second, why the farmers of western Canada have been charged three times wh

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Ritz and committee members, my name is Sinclair Harrison, and I'm president of the Farmer Rail Car Coalition. This is Bob Barss, board member for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, which represents all municipalities and a