Drawing of a first generation RailLink GP9 diesel-electric unit. |
7 April 2011
Advocating for Environmentally Socially and Economically Sustainable Transportation
Hon. Rob Merrifield, P.C., M.P., April 7, 2011
Minister of State (Transport)
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear Hon. Minister Merrifield:
A letter from you to Mr. H.B. Geiger of Ottawa dated 30 March 2011 concerning the Ottawa Valley Railway has come to
our attention. Your letter is most helpful in describing the process that the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) must use in
order to abandon any portion of its Ottawa Valley railway line, in particular its railway between Smith Falls, Ontario and
North Bay, Ontario through Pembroke.
I are writing because we believe that CPR has not been compliant with the discontinuance process. I would like to remind
you that CPR is required to maintain a Schedule A which is a Three-Year Rail Network Plan that list track it proposes to
discontinue. On its present Schedule A the CPR fails to list its Chalk River and North Bay Subdivisions, having failed to reinclude
them in their network following the surrender of lease from the Ottawa Valley Railway which operated those
districts. Furthermore, the CPR has failed to follow Section 141 (2) of the Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10),
specifically requiring that "The railway company shall make the plan available for public inspection in offices of the
company that it designates for the purpose." A website is not sufficient to meet the terms of this requirement.
It would appear that the CPR is not in compliance with the Canadian Transportation Act (CTA) regarding its Ottawa Valley
line and that to be fully compliant the company should be required to start over the discontinuance process.
We are concerned that the spirit of the CTA is also being disregarded by the CPR. Until there is more information on the
market for freight service in the Ottawa Valley among customers that desire rail service that serves their needs, and business
interests ready to acquire the relevant track and to operate a short line railway on it come forward, the abandonment of the
line should be held off. The CPR has seemingly raised barriers to keeping this rail line functioning as a short line railway
east of Mattawa. Long-term rail in the Ottawa Valley will help achieve economic development, and in the long term that
region of Ontario needs rail service in view of the continuing rising costs of road transport due to rising cost of oil prices.
We are requesting that you take the steps necessary to bring the CPR into compliance with the discontinuance process for its
Ottawa Valley track, and that your government aid in keeping the Ottawa Valley track in place, making sure that it stays in
use with a qualified short line railway operator. First, the CPR must be required to follow the rule in Section 141 (2) of the
CTA and list the Chalk River subdivision in its Three-Year Rail Network Plan for discontinuance and to respect the required
time interval after that before removing the rails.
Sincerely yours,
Tony Turrittin - Vice-President.
Transport Action Ontario
Box 6418, Station A, Toronto, ON M5W 1X3 Phone: 416.504.3934
www.transport-action.ca/ontario (formerly Transport 2000 Ontario)
c.c.
Hon. Chuck Strahl, P.C., M.P.
Office of the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Mr. Bernie Geiger
MPs: Hon. G. O'Connor; C. Gallant; A. Rota; C. Gravelle; G. Thibeault; T. Martin
Mayors: Dennis Staples, Smith Falls; Wendy LeBlanc, Carleton Place; David Reid, Arnprior; Bill Ringrose, Renfrew; Ed
Jacyno, Pembroke; Bob Sweet, Petawawa; Richard Rabishaw, Laurentian Hills; David V. Thompson, Deep River; Judy
Esser, Mattawa; Al Mcdonald, North Bay; Marianne, Greater Sudbury; and Debbi Amaroso, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
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