Those who forget the past are going to screw up our future. Those are not the exact words of the old cliché but they certainly fit. This occurred to us the other day when Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced the Trudeau government’s solution to cheaper air travel—let foreigners own a larger share of our airlines. For a solution, such as that, you need to forget Canada’s past and not care about its future.
Somebody needs to remind our high-flying transport minister that Canada was built and brought together by railways. Maybe we were lucky that Sir John A, Macdonald did not have the airline option. Our first Prime Minister might have cut some corners but he brought this country together with rails of steel. And they have helped hold the country together for almost 150 years.
But we can no longer leave those rails to rust. What our airlines really need is competition and high-speed, electrified railways can offer that competition. Start with the Windsor-Ottawa-Quebec City corridor and the airlines would have the real competition they need.
And there is no question but high-speed transport of goods across this country would be a huge boost to the economy. It would revitalize the west, lower the cost of goods, boost tourism and help improve Canadians’ experience of their entire country.
It is also important to recognize that the electrification process is already starting as commuter rail systems for our large cities are getting in line for electrification improvement. Electric trains on commuter lines can serve more people as they move in and out of stations at a greater speed.
And if anyone was listening to Finance Minister Bill Morneau last week, the money and the labour are part of his plan. Foreign capital will be eager to buy into high-speed trains based on the Japanese and French experience. They have proved that high-speed trains can meet consumer needs.
And the labour is there in large scale immigration. Like the mass migration of past centuries that built vast projects there is the migration parked in Europe and the Europeans can hardly use them all. We need them as consumers, we need them for their talents and we need them to help build our nation.
Maybe Trudeau cabinet members such as Bill Morneau (finance), Marc Garneau (transport) and John McCallum (immigration) should get on the same page and start working on building Canada’s future.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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