e-5097 (Transportation)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• Since its creation in 1978, VIA Rail has lacked both the legislative mandate and stable budget necessary to maintain and improve passenger rail service in Canada;
• Unlike other Crown Corporations such as Canada Post and Marine Atlantic, VIA Rail is governed by an Order-in-Council and lacks an enabling Act;
• Unlike other public passenger rail providers around the world, VIA Rail lacks democratic representation from both passengers and workers on its board of directors;
• Due to federal cutbacks and underinvestment over many years, Canada’s current passenger rail services lag far behind those available in other countries;
• While VIA Rail's on-time performance on tracks it owns is over 90 percent, it is only 60 percent on tracks it must pay to use on private railways;
• 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.