As Mr. Bachrach said earlier, when you no longer have a single carrier that operates coast to coast, there might be a way to string together a few tickets to get from one destination to another. However, if there's no coordination and if someone doesn't have the technical expertise or the time or resources to develop that themselves, it seems like this would be a good intervention for an entity to take on if they were empowered to do so.
I heard a bit about operating funding versus capital funding. I think the challenge for government is that there is a certain amount of money available. Money is finite. In the last number of years, perhaps that belief has been suspended. I hear about the lack of resources for busing, but then I look at what is being done for Via Rail. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar expansion that's been referenced for dedicated high-frequency rail track. The subsidy for riders between Windsor and Quebec was $80 per rider prior to the pandemic and $180 during the pandemic. From Jasper to Prince Rupert, it was $483 per passenger, and that was up to almost $1,500 when ridership was down. Clearly the Government of Canada is willing to subsidize certain travellers on certain routes using certain modes.
How do you think the Government of Canada should prioritize that? It seems to me that if we're talking about safety, giving people a hand up and perhaps giving them a service they otherwise wouldn't have, subsidizing intercity busing or intercommunity busing might be fairer than subsidizing those who are at least middle-class people taking the train. I'd ask for your comments on that too.
We're talking about fairness. How is it fair that a rail passenger in a highly populated area from Windsor to Quebec City gets a huge subsidy while people often put in danger by travelling are getting nothing?