VIA Rail

[roger1818]

Doesn't HFR count as a "fancy project"? This isn't a strategic investment,

I disagree. It is a "strategic investment" in greening our transportation sector.

it is a huge infrastructure project.

Since, as @Allandale25 quoted, the article @sacred linked to says they are investing "in Canadian infrastructure," I am not sure how a a huge infrastructure project is against what the article is saying. It seems as though you are cherry picking 2 words in the article, and ignoring what it is trying to say.

If the government funds this in the budget, they will get massive flack for giving billions to VIA when Canadians are barely scraping by.

Considering most of the money will go either directly or indirectly to employing Canadians, I don't see how the government will get flack for that, unless you think that instead of employing people and stimulating the economy, the government should just keep giving handouts in perpetuity.

 

[Allandale25]

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.


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.

I take the question as rhetorical. Some people here believe HFR is a 'fancy project' which was the term used in this article, others do not believe that's the case. It makes for a healthy debate here on UT.

 

[nfitz]

Whether be HFR a fancy project or not, this government has been very transparent about pre-announcing anything big in upcoming budgets beforehand, so there are no budget surprises.

As that has not happened, we know there won't be a big commitment in the April budget - if there is an April budget. Has that been confirmed? - edit, federal budget is on April 19, 2021. I'd think if there's any progress on HFR, we'd be hearing something before budget day.

 

[Allandale25]

^ I got the early April date for the budget based on some speculation I saw by some reporters based on the parliamentary calendar.

 

[SFO-YYZ]

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?

HRF/Infrastructure isn't even part of this minister's portfolio. She's the minister for Diversity, Inclusion, and Youth, which on the cabinet totem pole ranks pretty much as the last / least influential cabinet position.

I wouldn't take whatever she says too literally. If the comment instead was coming from Garneau or Freeland, it would indeed carry more weight.

 

[TerryJohnson]

There's still a month for some kind of announcement to take place, so I wouldn't rule it out yet.

If it isn't in the budget this year, it will be the airline lobby to blame, but I still find the "HSR-or-bust" narrative unhelpful. We need to actively build solutions to the mobility, economic, and climate crises using the assets and tools we've got today, not what we could've had if Canada had come to its senses about passenger rail in 2001 or 2011.

 

[roger1818]

There's still a month for some kind of announcement to take place, so I wouldn't rule it out yet.

If it isn't in the budget this year, it will be the airline lobby to blame, but I still find the "HSR-or-bust" narrative unhelpful. We need to actively build solutions to the mobility, economic, and climate crises using the assets and tools we've got today, not what we could've had if Canada had come to its senses about passenger rail in 2001 or 2011.

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, it makes you question the sanity of the "HSR-or-bust" crowd .

 

[EnviroTO]

Does this mean we can put HFR discussions to rest?

To move on to guessing when VIA Rail will cease operations and guessing if it will be replaced by outsourcing to bus operators like Robert Q which was being used between London and Sarnia as they pulled out services there?

 

[kEiThZ]

This isn't a strategic investment

I don't think you understand the word "strategic". Look it up. HFR absolutely fits the bill.

It basically has to.

Says who?

 

[tmlittle]

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)

Exactly. This could be taken any direction and Chagger probably just wanted an excuse to have her name in the media. You could interpret it any way you want: HFR is a "fancy project" that will be deferred, or HFR isn't a fancy project, it's a practical one that will likely be sold as a bundle of infrastructure and service improvements, especially in outlets where conservatives are more likely to hear about it, than as a brand-new line costing billions, since if HFR starts coming closer to approval, the latter is how it will be portrayed and criticized. The intelligent thing to do as the feds, if you were to try to sell a project like this, would be as the cheaper alternative to HSR.

 

[Allandale25]

Mark your calendars for checking the budget for HFR.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1374432830411788295

(unless of course there's an announcement between now and then)

 

[nfitz]

I really fail to see the point of this strawman. Who said it was going to go ahead before the election?

President and Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail said in that Globe and Mail interview last month (the great one that Allandale25 linked 20 pages ago) that last year they submitted the business case coming out of the $71 million project with the Infrastructure Bank, and that all that's needed is the government to make a decision on next steps. and that the "hope is really that with the upcoming spring budget, we would see clear support for the project". With no election scheduled until October 2023, and unlikely during 2021 with the NDP already announcing that they'll support the government, then surely if there's nothing in the budget, and no other indication from the federal government, that it's dead.

Cynthia Garneau has had a bumpy ride since taking over VIA Rail, but she is still chugging toward her ultimate goal – growth

Chief executive has the difficult task of transforming a money-losing passenger rail company in the midst of a pandemic that has crushed ridership. But the only thing more improbable might be her failure to succeed

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[kEiThZ]

President and Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail said in that Globe and Mail interview last month (the great one that Allandale25 linked 20 pages ago) that last year they submitted the business case coming out of the $71 million project with the Infrastructure Bank, and that all that's needed is the government to make a decision on next steps. and that the "hope is really that with the upcoming spring budget, we would see clear support for the project".

So she didn't say it was going to go ahead before the election. She said she hoped it was in the next budget. Exactly what several of us (including me) have said here.

With no election scheduled until October 2023, and unlikely during 2021 with the NDP already announcing that they'll support the government, then surely if there's nothing in the budget, and no other indication from the federal government, that it's dead.

You're quite the mind reader. Budget isn't even out yet and you know what's in it and what the parties will support?

 

[nfitz]

So she didn't say it was going to go ahead before the election. She said she hoped it was in the next budget. Exactly what several of us (including me) have said here.

Good grief - do you really think there's a chance we'll have an election before the budget?

I was tempted to go with budget, but I figured that if I put election, that gave you all an extra year - what with Covid and all ...

There needs to be less black and white, and fussing other exact word usage ...

Though personally, I don't think if it doesn't appear in the next budget that it's dead. I'd give it until early 2022.

 

[Darwinkgo]

President and Chief Executive Officer of Via Rail said in that Globe and Mail interview last month (the great one that Allandale25 linked 20 pages ago) that last year they submitted the business case coming out of the $71 million project with the Infrastructure Bank, and that all that's needed is the government to make a decision on next steps. and that the "hope is really that with the upcoming spring budget, we would see clear support for the project". With no election scheduled until October 2023, and unlikely during 2021 with the NDP already announcing that they'll support the government, then surely if there's nothing in the budget, and no other indication from the federal government, that it's dead.

Cynthia Garneau has had a bumpy ride since taking over VIA Rail, but she is still chugging toward her ultimate goal – growth

Chief executive has the difficult task of transforming a money-losing passenger rail company in the midst of a pandemic that has crushed ridership. But the only thing more improbable might be her failure to succeed

www.theglobeandmail.com

Once again: the project does not need to be named in the budget. The CIB is already funded.