When British Columbia joined the Confederation, amongst the clauses requires regular train services to eastern Canada; the CP railway was built under a charter to meet those obligations. Although I'm not sure if passengers train services was a specific requirement or not. Never-the-less, eliminating the Canadian entirely will not be looked upon favorably in Western Canada, although most today will prefer to fly than take the train all the way across Canada. Since there are no clauses in the Confederation papers mentioning airline flights, so the railroads live on.
NS VIA FAN wrote: I have yet to feel like I wanted to bail mid-trip on the Canadian (or any VIA train) like I have on the CZ and Empire Builder (if alternate transportation had been available in Havre MT....I probably would have!) And it was all due to the crew: Passengers caught in the middle of a dining car crew dispute and a very militaristic conductor. (Amtrak should get rid of their conductors as VIA did and have customer orientated Service Managers who know how to deal with the public instead of being on some ego trip)This, of course, is meaningless because it is anecdotal. Mike Shafer, the editor of Passenger Train Journal took a circle trip from Chicago to Seattle on the Empire Builder, Cascades train to Vancouver, BC, Canadian to Toronto, Maple Leaf to Buffalo, and Lake Shore Limited back to Chicago in 2015. He rated the Empire Builder the best part of the trip due the crew. Another equally meaningless anecdote to be sure, but proof that anecdotes work both ways.
What isn't anecdotal is the abysmal on-time performance of the Canadian, and that the train has lost its utility. Again, when the time comes, as it most surely will, to pull the plug, I don't think "because the crews are nicer than on Amtrak" will be good enough to save it.