Opposition MPs are pressing the federal government to order a halt to rail line abandonment until the grain transportation review is completed at the end of the year.
In the House of Commons last week, Reform transport critic Lee Morrison accused the railways of skirting the “spirit of the law” by rushing to abandon lines while the system is being studied.
“Until (review chair Willard) Estey reports, there should be a moratorium on abandonment,” Morrison said in an interview Feb. 5. “I also think there should be at least a three-year period between abandonment and the time they can go in to lift the steel.”
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Morrison said the rail-ways are showing undue haste in tearing up lines, effectively limiting the option of potential short-line railway operators to make plans and offers.
“The CPR and the CNR have been issuing a blizzard of notices of discontinuance of rail lines,” said the Cypress Hills-Grasslands MP. “They are trying to get in ahead of the deadline.”
He suggested the railways are “breaking the spirit of the Canada Transportation Act, if not the letter of the law.” They are thwarting the intention of the bill to make it easier to create short lines on abandoned track.
Transport minister David Collenette promised to look into the allegation but quickly came to the defence of the railways, saying, “I believe they are acting in good faith and they want to co-operate with Mr. Justice Estey and his commission.”
Morrison scoffed at the response.
“He would have us believe these people have hearts of gold and only the interests of the public at heart,” said the Reform MP. “I think we know that isn’t true. The railways are doing a death of a thousand cuts on the system, dismantling it a little piece at a time.”
New Democratic Party agriculture critic Dick Proctor also has argued the government should declare a moratorium on abandonment.
“This is a big issue back home as farmers see the track being torn up even as the whole system is under review,” Proctor said in an interview. “We need to get pressure on Collenette to tell the railways not to rip up one centimetre of track until Estey reports.”
