Why was Southwestern Ontario Left Out of Ottawa’s High-Speed ​​Rail Plans?

Talked about for Decades, High-Speed ​​Rail Passenger Service is Suddenly Back in Play, but Southwestern Ontario is left out. Why?

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Some Obvers Say the Region, Which Includes London, One of the Fast-Growing Cities in the country, Lacks the Political Clout to Make that Happen and has been voting the Wrong Way for Federal and Provincial Parties that Take the Area for Grant.

Last weekend, prime minister Justin Trudeau Announced His Government was moving ahead with a high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City.

Pledging $ 3.9 Billion During Six Years for Planning and Design, The Government Said The Tracks Will Span About 1,000 Kilometers, With Travelling At A Speed ​​of Up to 300 Km/H On the Emission-Free Network that Will Have Have Stations in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval, Trois-Rivieres and Quebec City.

No Stops West of Toronto Are part of the plan.

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The New Rail System, To Be Known As Alto, Would Get Travellers from Montreal to Toronto in Just Three Hours. The Government Aims to Iron Out Specifics, Including the Precise Route and where the Stations Will Sit in Each City, Before 2031.

Officials Declined to Put a Price Tag or Completion Date on the Mega-Project, But Experts Forecast the Cost Will Run Into the Tens of Billions, If Not Higher.

A Study by the CD Howe Institute Found the Promised Line Could Generate Between $ 15 Billion and $ 27 Billion in Value for Canadians During Six Decades, Undersscoring The Big Impact the Project Could Have On the National Economy.

But the decision not to extend the project to this part of the province has raised some eeyebrows, considering that london is expected to grow by more than during the next 25 years, according to projections by Ontario’s finance minister.

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“I think the Between Toronto and Montreal Makes Sense,” Said Mike Moffatt, Founding Director of the Place Center, An Economic Think Tank at the University of Ottawa. “Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal Are Large Cities. It makes sense to include all three. . . . WHERE I THINK IT GETS A LITTLE BIT MORE PROBLEMATIC IS THAT IT EXPENDS BEYOND MONTREAL in One Direction, but not beyond Toronto in the other.

Moffatt Takes Issue with the proposed Path Exndling Beyond Montreal Through Laval, Which He described as “Essentially a suburb of Montreal,” and then through three-Rivieres, “A Community About the Size of Brantford.

Peel region, for example, is three times laval’s size but isn’t part of the plan, he noted.

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“Hamilton is about the same size as Quebec City and a Whole Lot Closer. But there’s no stop in Hamilton, ”Moffatt Said. “And, obiously, What’s Particularly disappointing is that it doesn’t continues on Further through Kitchener-Waterloo and to London. Both Communities Are Among the Fast-Growing in Canada. . . so it’s very unfortuunate that our region is getting excluded. ”

For Other Obstresses, Including Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, The Omission of Southwestern Ontario was less surprise, noting How High-Speed ​​Rail for this part of the province has been talked about for decades to no avaé.

“The way Always Loved Rick Mercer’s Line that Canada is the leader in High-Speed ​​Rail Reports, and It’s True,” He Said. “Every Few Years, There’s Another Report Saying We Should Do This.”

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Bradley Chalked Up the Lack of Political Will from Higher Levels of Government to A Shortage of Political Influence from Southwestern Ontario, Particularly in Ottawa.

“The reality is Southwestern Ontario do not have a strong voice as a region,” he said. “How Many Cabinet Minister Federally are from Southwestern Ontario? The Answer is Zero. ”

Part of the ISSU is How Comfortable Conservative Parties, Both Provincial and Federal, Are With Their Position in Southwestern Ontario.

In the past Several Federal and Provincial Elections, for Instance, the Conservatives have Comptobly won the Region’s Rural Ridings, With the Only Holdouts in Southwestern Ontario Being the Three London Ridings. That Means the Need for Political Parties to Woo Voters is less Pressing Than in Regions where Ridings are Constantly in Play.

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“I do respect some of the MPS I have to deal with, but the reality is that we not the power the powerhouse, politically, that we used to be,” Bradley Said. “We not not seen as players in the national scene as it relates to the political outcomes.”

Paul Langan, Founder of Rail Advocacy Group High-Speed ​​Rail Canada, Agreed the Decision to Excludes Southwestern Ontario is Mainly Political.

“This is about Getting Votes in Ontario and Quebec,” He Said.

But Langan also put the black on voters in the region, noting the formation provincial government of Liberal Kathleen Wynne Had a Plan to Bring Speedy Train Service from Toronto to Windsor Before Her Government was topless by Doug Ford.

That Project, for which the government completed an Environmental Study, included Stops in Guelph, Kitchener, London, Chatham and Windsor. It would’ve reduced travel Times from London to Toronto to 73 minutes, a trip that now takes more than two hours by car.

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“That one that HURT me baduse that one made so much sense because the line between london through kitchener, Guelph and Into Toronto is Perfect,” Langan Said. “UNFORTUNATELY, PEOPLE IN LONDON AND KITCHERNE HAVE NEVER MADE THIS A PRIORITY, SO WE NEVER VOTE IN PEOPLE TO PUSH FOR THIS. . . And you get what you vote for. ”

But London North Center Liberal MP Peter Frackatos, Who Said He Strongly High-Spi Rail supports in Southwestern Ontario, Pushed Hard Against the notion this Region is being shut out or that politics were at play in the decision.

“What Did the Talking, in the End, is Ridership,” He Saidnoting the proposed line will pass through ridings considering strongholds of other political parties.

“Once You Start Applying Partisanship To The Decision Around Where To Invest, from an infrastructure Perspective, where the rail or any type of other infrastructure, you are going to make the wrong decisions,” he said.

Frackatos also noted the Toronto-Quebec City Rail Corridor is one of the busiest in North America, used by About 3.1 Million People Every Year. By comparison, The Southwestern Ontario Route is only used by 840,000 people.

“Population Growth On its Own is not Enough to justify a business case for massive investments,” He Said. “We’re Talking about a very significant investment, Billions of Dollars that would go into the making of a high-speed rail dedicated line.”

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