VIA Rail is under attack.
With the climate and cost-of-living crises spiraling out of control, we can’t afford to privatize our public transit. But that’s exactly what the Trudeau government is planning to do to VIA Rail.[1]
We can’t let that happen. With the federal budget set to be tabled in just over a week, we need to send a strong message to the federal government about VIA Rail: revitalize it, don’t privatize it.
The Council of Canadians is proud to join Unifor in its campaign to Get Canada Back on Track. Will you join us?
Sign the parliamentary petition to keep VIA Rail public. The petition will be closed for signatures on April 7.
While the phrasing in the petition is a bit different from how we’re outlining the issue in this email, the aim is the same – to keep VIA Rail public.
The Trudeau government plans to privatize or contract out the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, the VIA Rail service covering the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. This would come close to contracting out the entire VIA Rail system, as the corridor accounts for more than 90% of VIA Rail passengers and close to 75% of its revenue.
Make no mistake, privatization is a climate killer. It undermines our ability to cut emissions, adapt our infrastructure to the climate crisis, and create the good green unionized jobs that we need for a post-carbon economy.[2]
Instead, the federal government should prioritize funding public passenger rail infrastructure and support the speedy development of high-speed rail corridors across all of Canada. This would entail pursuing the procurement of trains that reach speeds of up to 250 km/hr for the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, as well as federal support for two proposed high-speed rail projects along the Calgary–Edmonton and Vancouver–Seattle corridors.
Transportation accounts for 22% of emissions in Canada.[3] High-speed rail in Canada’s busiest corridors would lower carbon emissions by reducing our dependence on intercity car and airplane travel while creating thousands of jobs in the process.
Sign the parliamentary petition to tell Trudeau to reject VIA Rail privatization.
Canada is the only country in the G7 without high-speed rail infrastructure. While countries like the U.S. and U.K. are making historic investments to enhance their national passenger rail networks, Canada continues to slip further behind. We need a modern, affordable, reliable and safe passenger rail service.[4]
Join us in the fight to protect and revitalize VIA Rail as a public service.
Further reading
