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VIA Rail

roger1818 said:
While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.
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The lobbyist registry is public - so who are these people and we can see who they are meeting with.
 
nfitz said:
there are better options to spend that (relatively low amount) of money.
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An opinion without any real evidence to back it up. But sure...

nfitz said:
You really expect me to name names? That would be unprofessional.
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I expect more than, "I know a guy...."

Saying you have friends in "industry" without further context is what makes them imaginary.

Also, professionalism is irrelevant when you weren't discussing a project you are involved in. One could argue that the FUD being thrown around is far less professional than the zeal to protect imaginary friends.
nfitz said:
Things have all gone very quiet since CIB announced that Arup and Aecom had been hired to explore VIA's proposal.
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They are quiet because they are actually doing work. It's a crazy concept. I know. I'd be more worried if they were promoting a project before they had completed the analysis they paid for.
 
roger1818 said:
While I agree that it is unfortunate that the likes of Paul Lanagan and Reece Martin are getting media attention, what scares me even more are the quiet lobbyists who are whispering in the ears of politicians, promoting their clients' agenda in secret, so as to avoid public debate.
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Mostly airline lobbyists. Which is exactly why HSR was never going to happened in one shot.
 
kEiThZ said:
Mostly airline lobbyists. Which is exactly why HSR was never going to happened in one shot.
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The freight railway lobbyists will also oppose any proposal that might negatively affect their operations. That is why Air Canada teamed up with CP Rail to commission both the "High Speed Rail Market Assessment" in 1991 and the "Joint Study of High Speed Rail Ridership and Revenues" in 1995 ref.
 
kEiThZ said:
An opinion without any real evidence to back it up. But sure...
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Do we have any real evidence on the details of the HFR proposal? VIA has chosen to ignore FOI requests in order to keep it secret. Which is all very odd at this stage.

kEiThZ said:
Also, professionalism is irrelevant when you weren't discussing a project you are involved in.
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That's not true. I could be professionally disciplined - and more likely those that have told me stuff could be professionally disciplined. Though I haven't directly worked on any aspect of this for over 30 years.

kEiThZ said:
One could argue that the FUD being thrown around is far less professional than the zeal to protect imaginary friends.
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One could, but that would be uncivil.

kEiThZ said:
They are quiet because they are actually doing work. It's a crazy concept. I know. I'd be more worried if they were promoting a project before they had completed the analysis they paid for.
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My point was I don't see this project get a go ahead before the election. Do you see it getting a go ahead before the election?
 
nfitz said:
That's not true. I could be professionally disciplined - and more likely those that have told me stuff could be professionally disciplined. Though I haven't directly worked on any aspect of this for over 30 years.

One could, but that would be uncivil.
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OK, but unless you give something about them, don't expect us to believe you. It makes it all the more believable.
My point was I don't see this project get a go ahead before the election. Do you see it getting a go ahead before the election?
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That's the sad reality. Projects (not only transport infrastructure, but anything involving money in general) are greatly politicized. I can see the federal government passing it in the budget. We can hope. 😁
 
2transpo said:
There really was no hope of this ever getting into the budget, and now it will get lost in the shuffle.

Does this mean we can put HFR discussions to rest?
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^ I don't think there's a need to put the discussions to rest because a) the budget isn't here yet b) the JPO hasn't been released. I assume someone may try to FOI it even if the government doesn't move forward and c) the corridor is still there.

So my recommendation is that if people don't want to see the VIA HFR proposal discussed here that they ignore this thread :)
 
sacred said:
No mention of VIA but this spooks me :”no fancy projects”
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From the interview, I guess it depends how these words are interpreted since HFR does relate to these two things.

""We're investing in Canadians, in the Canadian economy, in Canadian infrastructure so that we can invest for a stronger, cleaner, greener future for Canadians," Chagger said Monday in an interview on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris." (emphasis added)
 
Allandale25 said:
From the interview, I guess it depends how these words are interpreted since HFR does relate to these two things.

""We're investing in Canadians, in the Canadian economy, in Canadian infrastructure so that we can invest for a stronger, cleaner, greener future for Canadians," Chagger said Monday in an interview on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition with host Craig Norris." (emphasis added)
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Agreed. Also context is key. The full paragraph that says ”no fancy projects” is:

"Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger says the federal government isn't taking on any "fancy projects" during the COVID-19 pandemic and instead is making "strategic investments" to help the economy." (emphasis added)
 
roger1818 said:
Agreed. Also context is key. The full paragraph that says ”no fancy projects” is:

"Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger says the federal government isn't taking on any "fancy projects" during the COVID-19 pandemic and instead is making "strategic investments" to help the economy." (emphasis added)
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Doesn't HFR count as a "fancy project"? This isn't a strategic investment, it is a huge infrastructure project. If the government funds this in the budget, they will get massive flack for giving billions to VIA when Canadians are barely scraping by.

kEiThZ said:
I really fail to see the point of this strawman. Who said it was going to go ahead before the election?
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It basically has to. This is the only real window where HFR has any chance of getting through. If it misses this budget, it will end up like every other passenger rail scheme ever proposed in this country.
 
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