TIMMINS - It may seem like wishful thinking, but there is some hope passenger rail service could return to Northeastern Ontario.
During Friday’s meeting of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA), MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) was asked what he is doing to bring back passenger rail service for the region.
The Northlander, the passenger rail service run by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), was cancelled in September 2012 as part of the provincial government’s plan to divest the ONTC.
“Cancelling the train was pretty short-sighted,” Bisson said. “We (Ontario) spend $2 billion a year in downtown Toronto to build transit — which is needed, no one is going to argue that it isn’t — but we couldn’t find $20 million a year to run a train (in the North).”
He said Northerners need to continue to express a need for passenger rail service in the region.
“We need to continue in that direction to bring the train back in some form,” Bisson said. “I don’t think it is going to come back exactly the way it was, but it is something we will continue to work on.
“If it doesn’t come back in this minority parliament, we’ll go in to the next election (with the issue).”
The question came up after Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek provided NEOMA members with an update on ONTC talks.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle announced in March 2013 the formation of an advisory committee to provide the provincial government with input into the divestment process of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. “I made a commitment to set up this Ministerial Advisory Committee to ensure the voices of Northerners and all those impacted by the divestment of ONTC were heard,” Gravelle said at the time. “The advisory committee has also been established to meet the standard our government has set out: To see divestment recognizes the economic development value of the ONTC, and the decisions made reflect the need to put in place a Northern transportation strategy that recognizes growth and prosperity.”The divestment of the provincially owned ONTC was announced on March 23, 2012. The move sparked protests across Northeastern Ontario. After the Northlander passenger rail service was shut down, freight rail and Ontera, the telecommunications arm of the ONTC, were still in line for privatization.
Spacek is a member of the committee that has been meeting with government officials to discuss the future of the ONTC.
“We understand that the status quo is not acceptable,” he said. “ONTC can do a better job of delivering better value for both Northern Ontario and Ontario taxpayers.
“We recognize the very important roll it plays, especially with rail freight when it comes to the major industrial players in the North, existing ones and future ones, such as the Ring of Fire.”
He said the message from Northerners is being heard by the province.
“On that committee is representation from Xstrata and Tembec from the private sector,” Spacek said. “They have said very clearly that any change in the competitiveness of Ontario Northland would be extremely detrimental or negative for them.
“We understand the importance of getting this done right and making sure we have a cost-efficient and sustainable organization going forward.”
Spacek said selling off all of the ONTC’s assets is no longer the only option being considered by the provincial government.
“We already know from the minister’s announcement that divestiture is no longer the only option, so we’re very optimistic about that,” he said. “We feel strongly that we need to preserve the bus service, rail freight and the communications portion of it.”