Thank you.
I realize that you are comparing the air and rail sectors, but the danger in so far as the rail sector is concerned is that you are dealing with hundreds of kilometres of rail and hundreds of acres of railway yards. The following is noted with respect to railway yard spills on page 148 of the report:
We have perceived a gap between federal authorities in monitoring leakages and spills of dangerous goods and environmentally hazardous goods in railway yards. In most cases, Environment Canada expects the transportation regulator to intercede, since it is related to train operations, while the Transport Canada railway safety inspector is not sufficiently trained or knowledgeable to assess site contamination.
That means that hundreds of railway yards located within our city limits—all railway yard sites are located within city limits because they often pre-date urban development—are contaminated to some degree. The report was released in November 2007. It is not clear who is responsible for what exactly. Environment Canada maintains that Transport Canada is responsible, while Transport Canada inspectors are not sufficiently trained to assess whether or not a site is contaminated.
That is the current state of affairs in the rail sector. I am not happy to have to call for more inspections. Certainly I want the situation to be monitored, but I also want qualified people to check to ensure that railway yard sites are not contaminated.
What are we doing? What are you doing? You have established an Advisory Council on Railway Safety to address the contamination problem. That is all well and good, but how are you dealing with the problem of contaminated railway yards?