28 August 2010

MP Wants Non-Profit Rail Line

Peterborough Ontario - Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro has hired a communications and research specialist to support the resurrection of the Peterborough-Toronto commuter rail service and work on other rail issues.
 
Del Mastro announced Friday that Greg Gormick had joined his staff, filing a position vacated by Alan Wilson, who has taken a leave for personal reasons.
 
Gormick is leading and coordinating the creation of a nonprofit organization that would own the rail corridor between Peterborough and Toronto, Del Mastro said.
 
He's "working in support of the re-establishment of commuter rail between Peterborough and Toronto's union station," he said. "He has significant experience. He's a passionate supporter of the re-establishment of this line."
 
Gormick has worked as a communications adviser or writer for organizations and companies such as Bombardier Transportation, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Ontario SuperBuild Corporation, Canadian National Railway, and Canadian Pacific Railway.
 
His resume, which was released by Del Mastro's office, shows he's currently research director for Clean Train Coalition and a corporate communications writer for VIA Rail Canada.
 
Gormick told The Examiner he met Del Mastro at a rail passenger conference in Toronto about a year ago.
 
"The mere fact that an MP is this interested in rail issues warms my heart because that's my life... I was impressed that he wanted to get things done," Gormick said. "It's not pie in the sky. It's just something that should be done but it needed a champion and here he comes as a champion."
 
The federal and provincial governments each committed as much as $150 million towards the Peterborough-Toronto rail line in July 2008, contingent on the results of a study that would be done by Metrolinx, a provincial transportation agency.
 
A consulting firm hired by Metrolinx pegged the cost of the commuter rail link to be at least $541 million in the long-awaited report released in May.
 
Roadblocks have been thrown in Del Mastro's way, said Gormick, who lives in the Toronto area.
 
"The biggest roadblock has been Metrolinx," he said. "The biggest problem is they've put a lot on the table, particularly the big projects here in the Toronto area... They don't have the locked-in finances at this stage and that's one of their problems... They've been trying to push off certain projects that aren't their priority.
 
"That doesn't minimize the importance of a Toronto-Peterborough passenger service."
 
Del Mastro said Gormick would support his efforts as chairman of the national rail caucus.
 
He wouldn't reveal the pay range for Gormick's position but he said his budget for five staff members is about $200,000.
 
Del Mastro said he expects an agreement to come out of a meeting 9 Sep 2010 in Peterborough to move forward with creating a non-profit organization that would own the rail corridor.
 
Del Mastro's office also released several letters of recommendation for Gormick.
 
A couple of the letters are from John Howe, a vice-president with Metrolinx, when Howe was with the Ontario government's SuperBuild Corporation and the Ontario Jobs and Investment Board.
 
"Greg Gormick is Canada's leading expert on passenger rail issues. His knowledge and commitment to passenger rail, its legacy and potential, are unsurpassed," Howe states in a November 1998 letter.
 
CP Rail vice-president of communications and public affairs Paul Clark gave a letter of recommendation for Gormick dated January 2002.
 
"Greg's outstanding knowledge of the railway industry, of the unique transportation issues in the province of Ontario in combination with his communication skills has provided CPR with consistently clear stories and information for our audiences," Clark states.
 
CP Rail owns the Peterborough-Toronto rail corridor.
 
NOTE:  MP Dean Del Mastro plans to hold a meeting to discuss the rail issue with local officials, Durham Region representatives, and CP Rail at the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on George St. starting at 10 a.m. 9 Sep 2010. It follows a meeting held by MPP Jeff Leal held Wednesday.
 
Brendan Wedley.