Federal Government agrees to fund track repairs in New Brunswick thus preserving VIA Rail service in Atlantic Canada | Unifor's Fight Back Campaign deserves credit in this happening
May 17, 2014
After a months-long campaign led by Unifor activists in New Brunswick, the Federal Government has agreed to provide funding to repair a 70km stretch of rail tracks between Bathurst and Miramichi NB on CN’s Newcastle Subdivision. CN announced in January 2014 they intended to abandon this section of track. But before that could happen, they were first required to put it up for sale.
But who would buy a small section of track on a subdivision that at both ends connects to CN, track that CN was abandoning because it required additional maintenance and repairs and was not profitable in terms of railway freight hauling?
But who would buy a small section of track on a subdivision that at both ends connects to CN, track that CN was abandoning because it required additional maintenance and repairs and was not profitable in terms of railway freight hauling?
Without a buyer, or, without funding by either the Federal Government or VIA Rail, the track would have been left abandoned, meaning VIA Rail’s Ocean passenger train would have to run an alternate route, cutting off passenger rail service to thousands in the more populated communities along the northern edge of New Brunswick. VIA would be left only to run on CN’s mainline between Moncton and Edmundston NB, which is much less populated and would have undoubtedly affected VIA’s bottom line. That lead to concerns that VIA and/or the Federal Conservative government would ultimately discontinue passenger rail service in all of Atlantic Canada.
This announcement will preserve passenger rail service in the foreseeable future in Atlantic Canada and comes after months of campaigning and lobbying by activists from Unifor, Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 to ensure the future of passenger rail service for Maritimers, and for the job security of VIA Rail employees, both unionized workers and management. Good work everyone!
Here’s what we did:
Fighting back makes a DIFFERENCE!
By Patrick Murray, Regional Representative - Unifor National Council 4000
On January 27, 2014 the NB Conservative Alward Government and Canadian National made an announcement that the Provincial Government would be investing upwards of $25 million in funding in order to upgrade the tracks between Moncton and Miramichi and Bathurst and Campbelton. What they forgot to provide funding for was 70 km of tracks between Bathurst and Miramichi the line which VIA Rail's passenger train utilizes. CN put the tracks up for sale and in the event a buyer did not come forth they would be applying for an abandonment of the rail line, ultimately putting the Ocean Limited train and passenger rail service in Atlantic Canada under direct attack. Our union Unifor decided that we would not stand for this so we started our "Save the Ocean Campaign" Our strategy was to lobby all levels of Government (municipal, provincial and federal) in hopes to deliver the message that passenger rail service is a much needed form of PUBLIC transportation and one that many citizens of the Atlantic Region have certainly become dependent on.
We organized meetings with all of the Mayors of the Atlantic Region whose citizens will be directly affected in the event that the most historic train in North America the Ocean limited was to be eliminated. We were also fortunate to get an invite from Mike Savage, the Mayor of Halifax to the Atlantic Mayors Congress which was held in Charlottetown PEI and were able to give a presentation to over 40 mayors that attended the conference. When meeting with the mayors we presented to them a Municipal Resolution that spoke directly of the need to have passenger rail service in the Maritimes and our resolution was adapted by all City councils.
We met with the Leaders of the Provincial Parties to discuss our campaign and the impact this would have on the people in the event that the train was eliminated in its entirety. Brain Gallant who is the Official Opposition in New Brunswick and the leader of the Liberal Party, and Dominic Cardy, the leader of the New Democratic Party publicly endorsed our campaign and we are of the opinion this certainly helped.
We also met with many MP's of the different regions throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and made it all about the citizens of the their respective regions and strongly urged them to support our campaign and to put the pressure on the Federal Government and namely Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
The majority of the MP's agreed that our public transportation system in the Maritimes is lacking and advised us that they would do what they could do. We also advised the MP's that passenger rail is environmentally friendly as well as talking about the cost associated with the maintenance of highways and it was our position that repairing the tracks were a much cheaper alternative and would essentially save a public transportation service.
We also wrote letters and made phone calls to the Premier of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick asking for meetings to discuss this most important issue.
We participated in demonstrations across both provinces and had great turn outs at these events through the delivering of our message through the media and urging the citizens to get on board our campaign which they did.
So after months of campaigning the federal government has agreed to provide funding to repair train tracks between Miramichi and Bathurst which will allow passenger rail service to continue in the Maritimes.
The campaign to save passenger rail service was launched by Unifor and led by Unifor Council 4000, Local 100 and local union activists. We worked tirelessly with mayors, municipal councils and the public to raise awareness about the necessity of this service and to ensure that the Maritimes remained tied together and to the rest of Canada by a national passenger rail system.
The effects of abandoning this section of track would have had a devastating impact on so many communities along the ocean route. It would have had a terrible impact on VIA Rail workers and their families so we are pleased to see that the government has recognized the value of this service and provided the necessary funding levels for this very important service to continue.
This decision to provide the funding not only saves passenger rail service in the Maritimes, but will also stabilize jobs in the region and recognizes the importance of public transportation. Our members mobilized and were instrumental in making this happen. We would also like to thank the federal NDP as well as the Green Party and Transport Atlantic for their critical support.
This announcement was a great day for us because we know how important this service is to Maritimers. We are proud that we played a part in making this happen and making sure that our communities stay connected.
This is a concrete example as to when we get together on a common front and get many different organizations support as well as having the citizens on side that we can certainly make a difference and lobby for change. After all, passenger rail service was never designed as a profit making business, rather it was designed to provide a service to Canadians.
This announcement will preserve passenger rail service in the foreseeable future in Atlantic Canada and comes after months of campaigning and lobbying by activists from Unifor, Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 to ensure the future of passenger rail service for Maritimers, and for the job security of VIA Rail employees, both unionized workers and management. Good work everyone!
Here’s what we did:
Fighting back makes a DIFFERENCE!
By Patrick Murray, Regional Representative - Unifor National Council 4000
On January 27, 2014 the NB Conservative Alward Government and Canadian National made an announcement that the Provincial Government would be investing upwards of $25 million in funding in order to upgrade the tracks between Moncton and Miramichi and Bathurst and Campbelton. What they forgot to provide funding for was 70 km of tracks between Bathurst and Miramichi the line which VIA Rail's passenger train utilizes. CN put the tracks up for sale and in the event a buyer did not come forth they would be applying for an abandonment of the rail line, ultimately putting the Ocean Limited train and passenger rail service in Atlantic Canada under direct attack. Our union Unifor decided that we would not stand for this so we started our "Save the Ocean Campaign" Our strategy was to lobby all levels of Government (municipal, provincial and federal) in hopes to deliver the message that passenger rail service is a much needed form of PUBLIC transportation and one that many citizens of the Atlantic Region have certainly become dependent on.
We organized meetings with all of the Mayors of the Atlantic Region whose citizens will be directly affected in the event that the most historic train in North America the Ocean limited was to be eliminated. We were also fortunate to get an invite from Mike Savage, the Mayor of Halifax to the Atlantic Mayors Congress which was held in Charlottetown PEI and were able to give a presentation to over 40 mayors that attended the conference. When meeting with the mayors we presented to them a Municipal Resolution that spoke directly of the need to have passenger rail service in the Maritimes and our resolution was adapted by all City councils.
We met with the Leaders of the Provincial Parties to discuss our campaign and the impact this would have on the people in the event that the train was eliminated in its entirety. Brain Gallant who is the Official Opposition in New Brunswick and the leader of the Liberal Party, and Dominic Cardy, the leader of the New Democratic Party publicly endorsed our campaign and we are of the opinion this certainly helped.
We also met with many MP's of the different regions throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and made it all about the citizens of the their respective regions and strongly urged them to support our campaign and to put the pressure on the Federal Government and namely Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
The majority of the MP's agreed that our public transportation system in the Maritimes is lacking and advised us that they would do what they could do. We also advised the MP's that passenger rail is environmentally friendly as well as talking about the cost associated with the maintenance of highways and it was our position that repairing the tracks were a much cheaper alternative and would essentially save a public transportation service.
We also wrote letters and made phone calls to the Premier of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick asking for meetings to discuss this most important issue.
We participated in demonstrations across both provinces and had great turn outs at these events through the delivering of our message through the media and urging the citizens to get on board our campaign which they did.
So after months of campaigning the federal government has agreed to provide funding to repair train tracks between Miramichi and Bathurst which will allow passenger rail service to continue in the Maritimes.
The campaign to save passenger rail service was launched by Unifor and led by Unifor Council 4000, Local 100 and local union activists. We worked tirelessly with mayors, municipal councils and the public to raise awareness about the necessity of this service and to ensure that the Maritimes remained tied together and to the rest of Canada by a national passenger rail system.
The effects of abandoning this section of track would have had a devastating impact on so many communities along the ocean route. It would have had a terrible impact on VIA Rail workers and their families so we are pleased to see that the government has recognized the value of this service and provided the necessary funding levels for this very important service to continue.
This decision to provide the funding not only saves passenger rail service in the Maritimes, but will also stabilize jobs in the region and recognizes the importance of public transportation. Our members mobilized and were instrumental in making this happen. We would also like to thank the federal NDP as well as the Green Party and Transport Atlantic for their critical support.
This announcement was a great day for us because we know how important this service is to Maritimers. We are proud that we played a part in making this happen and making sure that our communities stay connected.
This is a concrete example as to when we get together on a common front and get many different organizations support as well as having the citizens on side that we can certainly make a difference and lobby for change. After all, passenger rail service was never designed as a profit making business, rather it was designed to provide a service to Canadians.
Past related stories:
- Save Maritime Rail Tour and Rally
- Province of New Brunswick and CN commit to preserve rail freight service... But what about passenger rail service?
- VIA Rail forecasts record loss
- Does job cuts at VIA "Enhance Customer Experience"?
- Getting on Board or Running off the Rails? The Past, and Some Possible Futures, of Passenger Rail in Canada
- Unifor Passenger Rail Campaign
