e-5104

Petition to the Government of Canada

• The High Frequency Rail (HFR) project was amended in 2022 to include the handover of VIA Rail’s existing operations along the Windsor to Quebec City Corridor to a private, multinational corporation, thus threatening VIA Rail’s role in delivering public passenger rail across Canada;
• Rail privatization and outsourcing schemes elsewhere have meant higher fares, reduced service, deteriorating safety performance, and lower pay for workers;
• Passenger rail privatization schemes in the UK have failed and voters have most recently supported re-nationalization;
• The failure of private intercity bus services in Canada has left many indigenous, rural and remote Canadians without connections to other communities;
• Call to Justice 4.8 from the National Inquiry into Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls report calls for all of Canada to be connected by safe, affordable, and reliable modes of public transit; and
• Passenger rail is a safe, efficient, sustainable, affordable, and accessible mode of public transportation.