11-18-2015, 03:15 PM
(11-18-2015, 02:10 PM)ookpik Wrote:Quote:Lake's comments come after Kitchener Centre Liberal MPP Daiene Vernile said Monday that the two-way, all-day GO train service originally promised by the Liberals by 2019, likely wouldn't be a reality until at least 2026 because of an ongoing dispute between the province and the Canadian National Railway over the use of company-owned track.This is unacceptable. Why can't the province use expropriation, even just the threat of it, to force CN's hand?
(11-18-2015, 02:17 PM)taylortbb Wrote: I believe the province can't expropriate the CN corridor because CN is federally regulated, and therefore rail corridors aren't included in the province's power of expropriation. I doubt that's the issue though, I'm sure there's some number of billions that would get CN to move, it's just that that number is far larger than anyone wants to pay.
taylorbb is correct. It's a constitutional division of powers issue. 92(10)a of the Constitution Act excludes inter-provincial railroads from provincial jurisdiction. The province does likely need the federal government's help on this one. Although as mentioned above, we've never had a closer aligned set of governments in Ottawa and Toronto. Let's make it happen!