Moving people, Colloque ferroviaire

Peak car? (New Statesman photo)

Transports en commun : Transport 2000 Québec appelé à investir

« Face à une hausse de l’achalandage, l’offre en transport en commun ne suffit plus pour répondre à la demande actuelle et potentielle dans la région de Montréal. Transit et Transport 2000 réclament donc un investissement de la part du gouvernement du Québec afin de la bonifier »  Sarah Bélisle a écrit pour l'Agence QMI le 27 octobre 2011.

« Les besoins en transports collectifs viennent justifier des investissements accrus », croit aussi Normand Parisien, directeur général de Transport 2000 Québec. « Les hausses de tarifs successives ont l’effet pervers d’étouffer la demande en transport en commun et de retarder l’expansion du réseau, a-t-il fait valoir. Ça justifie d’autant plus un investissement public »  l'Agence QMI a rapporté.

Transport Canada suspends Manitoba airline again

"Transport Canada has once again suspended the air operator certificate for a Manitoba airline in the interest of public safety. The agency says it took action against Missinippi Airways after an inspection found deficiencies with the company's Operational Control System. The inspection was carried out earlier this week to see if "corrective actions" put in place after an earlier suspension were working effectively," The Canadian Press reported on Oct. 22, 2011.

Transport Action's Air Passenger Safety Group continues to raise concerns about Transport Canada's new aviation safety regime which transfers responsibility for safety to airlines.

Harry Gow reports, Opposition mounts to Ottawa valley rail line abandonment

Ninety-five kilometre of rail that connect Northern Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal and the East Coast are slated to be torn up. This rail is critical to Northern Ontario's economic opportunities that depend on rail transportation. Also, opportunity to develop passenger train service from Northern Ontario to Ottawa and Eastern Canada would be lost.

Serpent River First Nation hosted a meeting Saturday of EACMR (East Algoma Chiefs, Mayors and Reeves) CAPT (Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains), TPR (Transport Pontiac Renfrew), Transport Action Canada and regional provincial and federal politicians. Rick Hamilton, Mayor of Elliot Lake chaired the meeting. A ribbon of rail consisting of the Ontario Northland Railway along with underused and orphaned rail belonging to CN and CP has been identified as infrastructure that interconnects the Communities, First Nations, People and Businesses of North-Eastern Ontario to Ottawa and Toronto as a foundation of socio-economic opportunity. CP's Mattawa to Pembroke rail that links to Ottawa is in abandonment procedures and scheduled to be torn up.

TPR described the process for saving the CN rail link and illustrated the impact of the Mattawa to Pembroke Rail link to the rail connectivity of Northern Ontario. This is the last direct rail link from Northern Ontario to Eastern Canada. If lost rail freight from Northern Ontario would have to be hauled 18 additional hours through Toronto to reach Eastern Canada resulting in higher costs. For passenger trains there would be no possibility of taking trains from Northern Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax without first routing through Toronto. Harry Gow, co-chair of TPR stated, "Canadian Pacific has started lifting the tracks between Pembroke and Smiths Falls, but there is still hope to save the line from Pembroke west, thus preserving Northeastern Ontario's link for freight and passengers to Ottawa, Montréal and the eastern seaboard."

La Commission de Transport de Glengarry-Nord Prescott-Russell

Consumer and Investor Advisory Council to OBSI alarmed by TD Bank decision

(Toronto) The Consumer and Investor Advisory Council to the Ombudsman for Banking Service and Investments (OBSI) was established to bring the voice of the everyday Canadian consumer to this sector.

The Council reacted with alarm and disappointment to TD Bank’s decision to withdraw from the services of OBSI for its banking clients, a neutral, impartial ombudsman scheme that has been recently reviewed and assessed to be a 'gold standard' in the financial ombudsman sector.

"OBSI provides a free, fair and effective way for Canadians to resolve disputes with banks and financial institutions.  Many Canadians would be unable to resolve their disputes effectively without a neutral third party dispute resolution body - one that consumers know that they can have confidence in" says Laura Watts, Chair of the Council. TD has announced that it will retain a private profit-based mediation company for banking complains instead of OBSI. TD will continue to use OBSI for investment complaints.

The Council is very concerned that using for-profit private mediation companies, hired by the financial institution itself, is not only confusing for consumers, it also could lead to the perception of a severe conflict of interest.   "It can look to everyday Canadians that the financial institutions are buying their own judge", says Watts, "if banks can choose to whom the dispute goes to. An independent body with statutory binding powers can provide a better way."

Despite the move, TD representatives appear to agree that a reformed OBSI may be the answer.  “We agree with the regulators that one single, independent dispute service is preferable and that should be OBSI,” TD's internal ombudsman Paul Huyer was quoted in the Financial Post on October 26, 2011 as saying. “We’re committed to work with regulators and OBSI to improve the service and reform it.”

Canadian Wheat Board supporters to rally on Oct. 28

Farmers support CWB legal action

(Regina)  The Farmers of the CWBA support the legal action by the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to stop the Harper administration’s illegal theft of their organization and the illegal expropriation of the benefits provided by our CWB to western farmers.

“We are very pleased our elected directors are taking their duties to us seriously and defending our democratic right to manage our own marketing system,” Bill Gehl, chair person of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance said.  “The majority of grain farmers see Minister Ritz’s legislation to kill our Board as an illegal procedure designed to take away our legal right to have a vote on any changes to our Board and we are all very pleased our Wheat Board is taking legal action.”

Gehl went on to say “Not only is this an illegal procedure, it amounts to a violation of our property rights by illegally expropriating the extra dollars the Wheat Board generates and returns to farmers.  Everyone understands the importance of brands and trademarks in marketing.  Yet Ritz’s draconian legislation also expropriates the brand value of the high quality grains we have developed and which have little value to us without the sophisticated marketing system which delivers that high quality to customers and returns the value to farmers.  This aspect of our Canadian Wheat Board marketing system is unique in the world and creates our market niche of serving high end, high value customers and having farm producers, rather than company shareholders, receive the extra revenue.”

“For urban people if Ritz succeeds in killing our Wheat Board, they can no longer have confidence that the grain in all the bread, pasta, and most of the beer they consume is grown by Canadian farmers under strict quality controlled conditions.  The private corporations to which Ritz intends to give control of our basic food stocks will have no economic incentives to capitalize on using our high quality grains in Canadian food processing.”

Ken Larsen, a CWBA member from Alberta, observed “over-throwing a democratically elected farmer-Board of Directors after it has been endorsed by a farmer plebiscite and replacing them with government appointees is a giant step away from basic democratic principles.  This part of the legislation establishes a terrible precedent with grim implications for all Canadians.”  - 30 -

For further information call:      

Bill Gehl    306-537-3899, or 306-543-7875

Ken Larsen          403-746-5792

Or log on to        www.cwbafacts.ca <http://www.cwbafacts.ca>

Canadian Wheat Board Alliance 

Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board 

National Farmers Union 

IMPORTANT MEETING AND DEMONSTRATION. WINNIPEG, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 

1. The Event

Please attend this demonstration in support of a strong CWB. Farmers are asked to assemble:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011

10:00 AM
Exhibition Place building
RED RIVER EXHIBITION GROUNDS
Highway #1 at the west Perimeter Highway (3977 Portage Ave.)
Winnipeg

Farmers will travel from the staging area by police escort to the Canadian Wheat Board building to rally in front of the CWB at 12:00 p.m.

Consumers talk protection on Nov.18

Melanie Aitken, Former Commissioner of Competition (CTV photo).

PIAC applauds text messaging lawsuit Updated Sept. 16, 2012

Updated: July 13, 2012

Get results with J. Goss + Associates.

Canadian consumers lost a strong champion when the Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken announced she will be stepping down on Sept. 21, 2012,

Are you interested in consumer protection, real estate commissions or unadvertised fees? Are you concerned about competition in the wireless, telecommunications and media industries? Do you care about the internet, privacy or banks?

If you're interested, please support the Public Interest Advocacy Centre by coming to our Annual Dinner.

PIAC Annual Dinner

Friday November 18, 2011, 6PM

Downstairs Banquet Room

Yangtze Dining Lounge

700 Somerset Street West,

Ottawa

Dinner Speaker: Ms. Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition

Ms. Aitken’s address will be followed by a sumptuous 10-course Chinese meal

Tickets $60 per person with $30 charitable tax receipt given.

Tables for 10 - $550  and $275 charitable tax  receipt given.

Email Donna Brady  to order tickets or phone Donna at 613 562-4002.

Or download the order form.

If you can’t make it to the dinner please consider donating.

You can donate to PIAC online.

Or mail a cheque to:

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)

ONE Nicholas Street, Suite 1204

Ottawa, ON

K1N7B7, Canada

LE CENTRE POUR LA DEFENSE DE L'INTERET PUBLIC

NE : 130592405RR0001

Enregistré sous : THE PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE

Opposition mounts, Ottawa valley rail line abandonment

CP Rail plans to dismantle the mid-section
 of the Ottawa valley rail line (OpenStreetMap). 

Critical Rail Link to Ottawa in Jeopardy

CAPT and East Algoma Chiefs, Mayors and Reeves concerned about rail link to Ottawa

Ninety-five kilometres of rail that connect Northern Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal and the East Coast are slated to be torn up. This rail is critical to Northern Ontario’s economic opportunities that depend on rail transportation. Also, opportunity to develop passenger train service from Northern Ontario to Ottawa and Eastern Canada would be lost.

Serpent River First Nation hosted a meeting Saturday of EACMR (East Algoma Chiefs, Mayors and Reeves) CAPT (Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains), TPR (Transport Pontiac Renfrew), Transport Action Canada and regional provincial and federal politicians. Rick Hamilton, Mayor of Elliot Lake chaired the meeting. A ribbon of rail consisting of the Ontario Northland Railway along with underused and orphaned rail belonging to CN and CP has been identified as infrastructure that interconnects the Communities, First Nations, People and Businesses of North-Eastern Ontario to Ottawa and Toronto as a foundation of socio-economic opportunity. CP’s Mattawa to Pembroke rail that links to Ottawa is in abandonment procedures and scheduled to be torn up.

TPR described the process for saving the CN rail link and illustrated the impact of the Mattawa to Pembroke Rail link to the rail connectivity of Northern Ontario. This is the last direct rail link from Northern Ontario to Eastern Canada. If lost rail freight from Northern Ontario would have to be hauled 18 additional hours through Toronto to reach Eastern Canada resulting in higher costs. For passenger trains there would be no possibility of taking trains from Northern Ontario to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax without first routing through Toronto. Harry Gow, co-chair of TPR stated, “Canadian Pacific has started lifting the tracks between Pembroke and Smiths Falls, but there is still hope to save the line from Pembroke west, thus preserving Northeastern Ontario's link for freight and passengers to Ottawa, Montréal and the eastern seaboard.” 

“The Mattawa to Pembroke rail link is critical to economic opportunity for Northern Ontario” says Rick Hamilton Mayor of Elliot Lake and Chair of EACMR. “Trains are efficient and cost effective all-season transportation for both goods and people that Ontario needs for our economy, quality of life and environmental responsibility” said Al Errington of CAPT.

Building rural transit La Commission de Transport de Glengarry-Nord Prescott-Russell

Casselman, Ontario, is the hub
of a rural transit service. 

TEO informe les usagers de ses autobus des résultats de son enquête 

COMMUNIQUÉ, Pour publication dès lundi le 25 octobre 2011 

(Press release and backgrounder in English follows below)

(Casselman/La Nation) La Commission de Transport de Glengarry-Nord Prescott-Russell (TEO) vient de distribuer dans ses autobus des informations sur les résultats de son enquête auprès d'eux et auprès des résidents de la région tenue au printemps 2011 par la firme RailFuture Group.

Selon Mme Mary McCuaig, secrétaire de La Commission "Les répondants, bien que globalement assez satisfaits de la plupart des aspects des services de TEO, ont informé TEO de certains éléments qu'ils souhaitent voir améliorés. La Commission a décidé de distribuer des feuillets d'information sur ces résultats dans tous les autobus de son réseau, opéré sous contrat par Leduc Bus Line".

Mme McCuaig a terminé en soulignant le soutien financier du Programme de Dévelopement de l'Est ontarien (EODP) et en remerciant les usagers et les résidents qui ont bien voulu répondre aux questions de TEO.
Informations: Mary McCuaig : 613.764.5444 poste 222

TEO informs its bus riders and residents of the results of its survey

Airlines "notice of suspension", what does a fare buy, un manque flagrant d'imagination

Harry Gow, Transport Action

Major flaws in leaked high speed rail report, Un retard de 30 ans, Ottawa's O-Train turns 10, trunk and feeder and more in today's Transport Action Canada Hotline.


Harry Gow, C'est faible, c'est médiocre, un manque flagrant d'imagination ! 

« Selon une récente étude commandée par le fédéral, l'Ontario et le Québec, un train à grande vitesse (TGV) entre Windsor et Toronto coûterait trop cher à construire et serait déficitaire. Le cofondateur du groupe Transport Action, Harry Gow, ne mâche pas ses mots. Pour lui ce n'est qu'une autre des nombreuses études effectuées depuis une vingtaine d'années, par des experts dont il remet en doute la compétence » Gérard Malo a rapporté pour SRC Ontario le 18 octobre 2011.

« C'est faible, c'est médiocre, un manque flagrant d'imagination ! Ce sont des gens qui n'ont pas apparemment la profondeur dans la science des trains à grande vitesse » dit Gow, SRC a rapporté.

High-speed rail to Windsor feasible, Transport Action says

"The report favours a major spending commitment between Toronto to Montreal, but determined similar rail investments leading into Windsor would be a major financial drain," Dave Battagello wrote for the Windsor Star.

“Transport Action Canada, a national group that promotes sustainable transportation and believes railway service should be expanded.… the group’s vice-president Justin Bur (said): “It’s pretty obvious there is high travel demand in the entire corridor. For me the message here is the project is not well understood. The focus of this study was narrow and it shows how nobody doing this understands how (high-speed rail) can be helpful. There was an inability to understand this is a possibility to make it easier to cross the border, that such a service will make travel more fluid in general,” the Windsor Star reported.

Transport Action in Fredericton,  NB ADM on interurban and rural services 

The Fall Board meeting of Transport Action Atlantic will be held beginning Oct. 29 at 10:00 at the office of the Conservation Council of NB, 180 St. John Street, downtown Fredericton. All members are welcome.

The afternoon presentations, which are open to the public, will be by the Conservation Council at 13:45 and by New Brunswick's Assistant Deputy Minister of Transport at 14:30. Key issues to be discussed are interurban and rural bus services in the Maritimes and threats to VIA Rail's Ocean service, especially on the "North Shore" of N.B.

Transport 2000,  A train for the new Champlain

High speed rail study is wrong

 

LEAKED OTTAWA-QUEBEC-ONTARIO HIGH SPEED RAIL STUDY IS FAULTY AND SHOULD BE DISREGARDED, SAYS TRANSPORT ACTION CANADA

(Oct. 15, 2011) Over two-years in the making behind closed doors, sat on by Ottawa, Quebec and Ontario governments, the much anticipated Quebec City-Windsor high speed rail study has turned up today as a leaked document (Tess Kalinowski, Toronto Star), and as a huge embarrassment.

"This $3.4 million study makes high speed rail look bad," says Transport Action Canada spokesperson, Tony Turrittin.  "It's full of faulty assumptions.  Here's a real groaner.  Because of costs, Windsor doesn't get high speed rail.  But the study excluded the potential for cross-border traffic from the U.S.  That's unreal."

The most serious defect of the leaked study is its neglect of incremental development of a fast train network for Central Canada.  Instead of looking at upgrading and expanding what VIA Rail already has, the study exclusively focuses on the most expensive system of ultra-high speed trains that require an all new right-of-way.

In this plan, only a couple of high speed routes would be built with no intermediate stops between main cities.  The study then advocates cutting all VIA Rail services to smaller cities in Central Canada which would only be left with buses.  "To make matters worse," says Turrittin, "the plan advocates discriminatory high fares between Montreal and Toronto."

"The plan is a step backward," says Turrittin.  "We're being left with highway dependence, reliance on ever scarcer fossil fuels, increasing greenhouse gases.  Around the world, countries are expanding their networks of passenger trains of all kinds, adding fast trains to commuter, regional, and inter-city electric train services."

"This study with its faulty assumptions should be disregarded in favour of taking action now," Turrittin stated.  "We could begin with following recent government investment in VIA Rail with further strategic grants, but this time adding in open public consultations on how to expand rail for the 21st century." He added: "Abandoning the train network as a sacrifice for a single high speed line with no local stops is the opposite of what is being done around the world where high speed rail is being embraced."

Transport Action Canada is an Ottawa-based consumers' group that advocates sustainable transportation.

Pedestrian priority, corridor exclusif, Cape Breton railway

Transport Action BC's  Matthew
Buchanan demos OpenStreetMap

Using OpenStreetMap for transport action

Transport Action BC's  Matthew Buchanan reports: "I have been using OpenStreetMap  a lot recently. While similar to other web maps such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo Maps, there are key differences. For one OpenStreetMap is editable by anyone, all it takes is a user name and password to start editing. It has been described as the Wikipedia of maps. It is also possible to fix mistakes in the map right away, while the big online maps are updated a lot less frequently. OSM has a lot more bike paths, pedestrian paths, bus stops, train stations that the big guys don’t have. An advantage to non-profits like Transport Action, is that OSM maps can be published, copied and printed without restriction.

Buchanan demonstrates an OpenStreetMap with a rendering of the Mission Bridge area. "It shows the West Coast Express station in Mission and the two VIA Rail stops in the vicinity, which I suspect aren’t widely known about. The Abbotsford stop (it can’t be called a station since it is just a platform) serves trains bound for Vancouver only, the Mission Harbour  stop serves eastbound trains only," Transport Action BC's president reports.

Transport 2000 Québec, Audiences publiques de la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal 

Un consensus régnait à la 5e séance de consultation sur le projet de Plan métropolitain d'aménagement et de développement (PMAD) de la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal. ... Pour Transport 2000, toutes les voies de circulation en réfection devraient intégrer un corridor exclusif  pour le transport collectif. L'organisme recommande également d'assurer la présence de services de proximité de transports collectifs dans les aires TOD et d'en informer adéquatement la population afin d'encourager l'utilisation des transports collectifs," la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal a rapporté le 12 oct. Les mémoires présentés sont disponibles en ligne sur: www.pmad.ca

Transport Action Prairie, What is the plan for shortline railways? 

The federal government is proposing to turn over much of Canada's wheat distribution to the corporate sector. The plan, scheduled to come into effect next summer, has yet to address key issues like railway car supply for farmers and the impact on shortline railways and the ports of Prince Rupert and Churchill

The Winnipeg Free Press reported; "Most of the railway branch lines have been ripped up. Farmers are once again feeling captive. Once a farmer has loaded a semi and hauled grain 100 kilometres or so to the nearest grain terminal, how likely is it that he or she will turn around and go elsewhere if the offered price is unsatisfactory?"

"Not surprisingly, producer-car use has surged again over the past 15 years or so as farmers invest in their own grain-loading facilities to bypass the country elevator system. There are 120 producer-car loading sites scattered across the Prairies. Not only that, but producer-car shippers have been the main investors in the 14 short-line railways that now exist across the West," Laura Rance, reported for the Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 10 2011.

Transport Action Prairie's Peter Lacey notes the organizations has been a key player in the shortline renaissance. "Transport Action wants to know what the government's plan is for the industry. Using shortlines, farmers have been saving a lot of money in transportation costs and taxpayers have saved on road costs," Lacey says.

Transport 2000 Québec, Un débat public sur les politiques d’aménagement 

Canadian Wheat Board key issues Commission canadienne du blé

Canadian Press photo. 

The government's Canadian Wheat Board plan is under fire in most prairie media reports but has been highly praised by Toronto-based national media.

La majorité des agriculteurs des Prairies ont voté pour que la Commission canadienne du blé et la FCA aurait accepté de signer la déclaration finale et le communiqué des ministres de l'Agriculture membres du Groupe de Cairns, à l'exception du passage sur la Commission canadienne du blé.

Media coverage is beginning to link the demise of the CWB with plans to weaken or eliminate supply management for dairy, egg and poultry producers.


Key issues include:
- profits transferred from farmers' monopoly to corporate oligopoly
- no transition plan and no business model for the new CWB
- distortion of facts by the federal government
- railway car supply for farmers
- impact on shortline railways, ports of Prince Rupert and Churchill
- rural voters in Manitoba and Ontario elect Conservatives based on social issues
- Canadian Federation of Agriculture and National Farmers Union support CWB
- no federal agriculture policy support for farmers
- fate of supply management boards for eggs, dairy, poultry etc.
- Doha negotiations
- rural depopulation
- price increases for consumers
- democracy
- farming as a way of life


CBWA Facts, Saskatchewan single desk selling of potash 

Can someone explain why Premier Brad Wall, now standing for re-election in Saskatchewan, was passionate about his support for single desk selling of potash yet he can hardly lift a finger to support the majority of farmers who just voted for single desk selling of their wheat and barley? For every dollar a farmer earns, he puts about eight dollars into circulation in the economy.  Ending the CWB is estimated to remove between 500 million to one and a half billion dollars from the western economy, and most of that will come out of Saskatchewan.
CBWA Facts, October 11, 2011

SRC, Stephen Harper : la fin inévitable du monopole de la CCB

Le premier ministre Stephen Harpera a annoncé vendredi, à Regina, que son gouvernement présentera une loi « très bientôt » à la Chambre des communes pour briser le monopole de la Commission canadienne du blé (CCB). « Il est temps pour la Commission canadienne du blé et d'autres qui ont fait obstacle à son abolition de se rendre compte que ce train a quitté la gare et file à vive allure. Vous êtes bien mieux d'embarquer que de vous tenir sur la voie, car ce projet va de l'avant », a-t-il poursuivi.
SRC, le vendredi 7 octobre 2011

Allen Oberg, CWB Chair, Family and farming

Public transit needs a federal strategy, Le pont Champlain

David Jeanes, President of Transport Action Canada.

Tolls and green lanes for $5 billion Champlain bridge, un péage,  Vancouver mayors set to boost gas tax, Ontario transportation gridlock and more in today's
Transport Action Hotline.


David Jeanes says public transit needs a federal strategy

"The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities — in continuation of its discussion on the idea of a National Public Transit Strategy — met with two witnesses on Wednesday, both of whom strongly supported such a federal strategy. Mr. David Jeanes, president of Transport Action Canada, highlighted to the committee that there is a federal interests in a transit strategy in order to supplement research, policy and funding issues that cannot be handled by municipalities alone. He went on to highlight current gaps in railway electrification, the accessibility of abandoned rail lines for public transport and the availability of airport links as key areas in which the federal government may contribute," iPolitics.ca reported on Oct 6, 2011.

Jeanes spoke to the need for rural transit and for basic public transit service, even in small towns. He urged more tax policy support for employer subsidized transit passes. He discussed the acquisition of surplus rail lines by municipalities and the industrial benefits.

Click for the text and an audio stream of the presentation by Transport Action President David Jeanes:
Sanding Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN)
41st Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 5, October 5, 2011
3:34 p.m. - 5:28 p.m.

New Champlain Bridge, The right time for us to rethink our model of transport, Transport 2000 Québec says

"With the bridge being rebuilt, now is the time to follow the model of successful states like New York that have made large increases in funding to public transit, said Normand Parisien, general director of the non-profit Transport 2000 Quebec. “For the last 15 to 20 years, New York has been investing heavily in public transit while we were going the other way,” he said. “It’s time to change that, and the Champlain Bridge is the right time for us to rethink our model of transport,” René Bruemmer reported for the The Gazette on October 6, 2011.

"Transport 2000 advocates splitting the number of lanes equally between cars and public transit, suggesting two lanes for cars, two lanes for light-rail, buses and carpooling. It also applauded the idea of using tolls," the Gazette reported.

Transport Action Canada, Annual General Meeting

Transport Action Canada will hold its AGM:
Bronson Centre, Ottawa on
November 12, 2011
The meeting will feature a discussion: 10 Years of the O-Train.

Le pont Champlain,  L’association Transport 2000 Québec, un péage

L’association Transport 2000 Québec se réjouit que le gouvernement fédéral ait retenu sa proposition de réinstaurer un péage sur le pont Champlain dans le cadre de son projet de reconstruction.  Il reste maintenant à voir de quelle manière on saura intégrer à l’ouvrage les aménagements requis pour réellement contribuer à faciliter et à développer le transport en commun

Nous pensons ici aux voies réservées au covoiturage et aux autobus ainsi qu’aux infrastructures requises pour accueillir des liens ferroviaires de divers types – légers ou lourds.  Comme le souligne le président du Conseil monsieur Robert A. Dubé, il faut réellement concevoir ce pont pour le 21e siècle et au-delà, en pensant aux générations futures et aux développements à venir, et ne pas simplement concevoir, comme trop souvent hélas, une structure qui serait rapidement dépassée.

Nous avons ici une excellente occasion d’entreprendre un projet crucial pour l’avenir de Montréal et de sa couronne, alors autant investir pour qu’il réponde longtemps – et de manière efficace – aux besoins à court et à long terme.  Transport 2000 avait présenté clairement ses options le 12 avril dernier, tout en joignant la Coalition Champlain en chantier.  L’autre communiqué est disponible sur demande.

Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains

Nancy Riche stood with regular people who needed help

PIAC mourns the passing of Nancy Riche 

Nancy Riche passed away on Oct. 1. Riche was a longtime director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

Nancy brought a lot of things to PIAC including muscle and wit. She was a natural leader who was always very clear about where she stood. She stood with regular people who needed help. 

As a union leader, a consumer champion and a proud daughter of Newfoundland Nancy made friends where ever she went. 

PIAC mourns her passing and extends our condolences to her family and friends. 

CBC News: Nancy Riche, 66, a labour and NDP organizer

The Most Interesting People In Newfoundland | Nancy Riche

TheIndependentNL