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[Guest Airmail]

Feds fund Ontario Northland $2.5M for Toronto North Bay passenger train route

NORTH BAY, Ont. (CP) _ The federal government will spend $2.5 million to keep Ontario Northland Transportation Commission's passenger trains running between Toronto and North Bay, Ont. over the next year.

``The federal funding will ensure continuation of the service between Toronto and North Bay, while the provincial government and (the commission) continue seeking a long term solution for the Ontario Northland rail service,'' Transport Minister David Collenette said Monday.

Ontario Northland is a provincial Crown corporation that operates rail, bus, ferry, telecommunications and hotel services.

For the past seven years, Transport Canada has financed the corporation to ensure passenger service continues to North Bay and remote parts of the province's northern regions.

Monday's contribution extends the funding for an additional year beginning Canada Day.

The financing move comes a few weeks after Canadian National Railway Co. scrapped plans to buy Ontario Northland over what Canada's biggest rail carrier said were unacceptable demands by the provincial government for job guarantees for Ontario Northland workers.

CN planned to invest millions of dollars to improve the rail service, but also wanted to streamline the operation to cut costs and make it more competitive as a freight shipper.

Montreal-based CN was selected by the Ontario government out of three bidders to negotiate the takeover and talks began last October.

After the deal fell through, Jim Wilson, minister of northern mines and development, said privatization of the regional Crown railway was off the table.

Until 1996, passenger service between Toronto and North Bay was subsidized by the former National Transportation Agency, now the Canadian Transportation Agency. Transport Canada assumed funding responsibility from the National Transportation Agency when a new federal law ended that agency's ability to continue subsidizing the service.

[Guest Airmail]

$2.5 million of free government money for one single route while airline employees serving the same route take pay cuts to save their company and airline passengers flying YYZYYB pay the security surcharge, AIF, NavCan fee and the list goes on!

Tell Collenette what you think: Collenette.D@parl.gc.ca

[Guest floatrr]

30,000 employees taking a big paycut=less income tax paid.Hundreds more employees on the street looking for work=more folks in the EI line. Loss of spin off jobs=more employees in the EI line looking for work. Less disposible income spent in country = less sales tax for the feds to collect. Now I'm no financial guru,but I would venture to say it would be cheaper for the feds to inject some cash into the airline industry or at least give it a boost with less fees and fuel taxes etc. I for one sure as H*ll did NOT vote for any of those morons in Ottawa. Collenuts are you on drugs?

[Super 80]

Collenette is a huge train geek... any questions?

[Guest Airmail]

From the December 18, 2000 edition of the Toronto Star, "Heading into History":

But Northlander ridership is so low, the Premier [Mike Harris] said, that public funding for the service could better be used to buy passengers alternate means of transportation.

"When you look at the amount of subsidies by the federal and provincial governments to the Northlander, and the number of passengers who are on it, we can provide everyone with airline tickets far cheaper, or private limousines, or taxis, to wherever they want to go, and they'll get there quicker, faster, and when they want to go," Harris, who represents the Nipissing riding, said in North Bay.

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According to the same article, the Northlander which goes from Toronto through North Bay north to Hearst carries just 30,000 passengers a year! $2.5 million for 30,000 passengers!