Energy, Northern Development and Mines Minister Greg Rickford provided no specific timeline but offered a wait-and-see answer regarding provincial funding needed to preserve short-line railway service in northeastern Ontario.
During Question Period at Queen’s Park on Sept. 25, Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha called out Ross Romano, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie and Rickford’s parliamentary understudy, for not arranging a meeting between the minister and a task force lobbying for government support to keep the Huron Central Railway operating past December.
The railroad’s parent company, Genesee & Wyoming Canada, maintains it will discontinue freight operations on the 173-mile (278 kilometres) line between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury if $43.2 million is not provided by the federal and provincial governments for much-needed track and railway crossing infrastructure improvements.
Mantha reminded the government that during the recent election campaign, Premier Doug Ford acknowledged that the railway was critical to the region’s economy and promised that, if elected, funding would be made available through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.
“So, if the issue is a priority for this government and not a partisan issue, why is it so difficult for the member of Sault Ste. Marie to arrange a meeting between the minister and representatives of the Huron Central Railway task force?”
Mantha first raised the alarm earlier this year about freight service potentially being pulled.
His riding includes Espanola, home of Domtar’s pulp mill, and Nairn Centre, where an EACOM sawmill is located; two industrial suppliers heavily reliant on the line to move forest products to market.
Rickford answered that the government understands the priorities for Northern Ontario and will stand up for mining, forestry and agriculture jobs by ensuring that the right transportation network is in place to service Northern communities. He did not mention the Huron Central or Genesee & Wyoming in his remarks.
“We need a dynamic transportation network, we have busing matters on the table, we have train opportunities and challenges, frankly, on the horizon, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to make good decisions that benefit all of Northern Ontario in its vastness.
“I can assure the member opposite that in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be rolling out a series of decisions and announcements with respect to how Northern Ontario can contribute to an economy for Ontario that will help break down this $15-billion deficit, this sinkhole created by the Liberal Party of Ontario in their previous status as a government.”
