Transport committee  That would certainly enable me to contact my fire safety service immediately so that they could be prepared in the event of danger, rather than have to react to a situation after it occurs. For example, if we know that there are certain types of products, the head of our fire safety service would already be aware of it and could take measures with his counterparts in the other four municipalities to prepare action plans ahead of time.

Transport committee  No, not really. The only information we get comes once a year under the Operation Lifesaver program. People come here one fine morning and hand out brochures about driver safety.

Transport committee  Yes we have, but we've never had a reply.

Transport committee  Yes, that's right.

Transport committee  Any options that would bring the entire municipality together again would certainly be an asset. About five years ago, there was discussion about building an overpass or underpass within the following 10 years. Then a traffic light was installed at that location. Drivers stop at the railway crossing when there is a train and are now required to stop whenever there's a red light.

Transport committee  At night, there is less noise and people can sleep better. And if there is an accident at home, they know that the ambulance will be able to come quickly and won't have to stop to wait for a train to go by. Of course in daytime, many people are not at home because they have gone off to work.

Transport committee  Definitely not. I can assure you of that. We need only look at the invoice for the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. Forget about it. At Terrasse-Vaudreuil, We have a budget of $2.5 million. Our fire services alone need $250,000 to operate. Because the railways go through the municipality, we can't share with another town because we never know what might happen.

Transport committee  We definitely need to do it, but it's important to have the expertise and training required to deal with incidents like these. Mr. Brazeau said earlier that in 2021, training had been provided in my region. For the four towns I mentioned earlier, nothing was done in terms of training.

Transport committee  Yes, that's correct.

Transport committee  The excuse they often give us is that they can't do it. They also raise safety issues associated with the goods carried by the trains.

Transport committee  We're getting results by continuing to talk about them. However, it isn't always easy to find someone who can give us an immediate answer. Sometimes it takes a week or two for people to call us back or to get a solution to the problem.

Transport committee  Yes, I completely agree with that. Consider the length of the trains, for example. The distance between the two exits in our town is at least two kilometers. It takes a very long train to obstruct both at the same time.

Transport committee  There are definitely all kinds of impacts. Motorists experience long waits before they can cross the tracks and that stresses them, and trains frequently obstruct the level crossings for an hour or two. So people have to leave home earlier. Their stress levels rise, and that can exacerbate the situation.

Transport committee  In the 1990s, my uncle, the mayor of the municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil at the time, went to war over the crossing. Now it's 2022, and the issue remains unresolved. Railway transportation is highly profitable, and it would be good if the railways could help construct a viaduct over the crossing or an underpass to improve safety.

Transport committee  I honestly have to say it's been tough. The municipality's fire services receive codes indicating what goods the railway cars are carrying, but we get them after the trains have passed. We need that information before the train arrives, not afterward. We don't need that information once the train has passed.