A government move to privatize VIA

A private member's bill (C-203) called the "VIA Rail Commercialization Act" was recently introduced into the House of Commons by MP Jim Gouk (CPC - BC Southern Interior).

While the vast majority of private member's bills never make it into law, this one is scary.

Here's the summary:

The purpose of this enactment is to enable the Minister of Transport to sell the shares of VIA Rail.

The enactment transfers the existing shares into the name of the Minister in trust for the Crown. It also allows the company to issue other shares. Sale of all shares must be on terms satisfactory to the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Finance.

It also authorizes the Minister of Transport to enter into agreements to sell the existing or later issued shares of the company and sell or settle its debts or obligations.

To read the entire text go to Bill C-203.

Jim Gouk is a dangerous person for Via. He is one of the ones that is in bed with, and helps RMRT whine and moan about Via whenever possible, and is the leader of the pack that continualy stops Via from returning to CP. He has made it very clear on numerous occasions how he feels about Via, lets hope he doesn't win this one. RMRT must be just loving this, you can be certain a copy of this bill lies on the desk of the CEO. Since they want the Canadian, it would be perfect for them.

Thankfully, MP Jim Gouk is an opposition Member of Parliament and his private member's bill is highly unlikely to become law. The downside here is that few, if any of his fellow Conservative MP's will vote against his bill (if it comes to a vote and many do not).

That Mr. Gouk was put in as first Vice-Chair of the Commons Transport Committee by his fellow Conservatives (although he is NOT the official party Transport Critic), I think says volumes about the Conservative policy on Via Rail.

Harold Nicholson

The conservative party and Stephen Harper has made it quite clear that they would get rid of via if they were in charge

Well Canada's PM Paul Martin is against VIA I heard because he was a Bus Company owner. Could this be a plot by him to do it?

AmtrakFan

True, I don't think Paul Martin is a friend of Via either...honestly, I don't know who is worse, Martin or Harper.....I don't trust either of them as far as I could throw them.

I think it safe to say this private member's bill is not a Martin plot, but I would not be surprised to see the governing Liberals help to pass this bill. I also do not trust the Liberals under Paul Martin.

I'm against any more sell-offs of Crown Corporations or any form of government financed institutions in Canada that were created with the public interest in mind.

VIA is supposed to be there to serve the Canadian Public, not for making a profit to pay for some suit's third cottage. Petro Canada was started to thwart the effects of any future oil embargos against Canada. "Sufficient Energy for an Energy Efficient Canada". Gee, they forgot that one in a hurry. So, Petro's gone along with Canadian National and Air Canada. Whose interests were served when these institutions created with Canadian taxpayers money, were liquidated? Now they want to do the people the same favour by putting VIA on the block? Who's been drinking Wildcat at the rink this time?

If VIA is privatized, the cost of travel for the average 6 month a year unemployed Canadian will be prohibitive. Equipment was sold off to Private Tour Operators who rake in the profit from taking Americans, Europeans and Japanese tourists through the Rockies. Boy, that really served the public!

Now we have a "Rennaisance" in Canadian rail travel with less leg room than ever, and people banging their heads on the luggage rack every time they get up from the seat. Why didn't some Hoser in a Ministry figure out that if the tourist industry was so lucrative, to run these Tourist Trains in the west, with the profit steered back into other VIA operations? Oh my, I forgot the Shareholders....

The Canadian Public is owed an efficient, comfortable and affordable way to get across the country. For all the money tossed abroad without any benefit, it's time to realign priorities in Ottawa, and serve the people. Let them start by giving attention to VIA.

Dieter.

The Canadian public is owed alot of things, and we aren't getting any of them, and those that we do, are constantly under threat to be taken away. It's what you get with they type of politicians we have today: all businessmen, who do not understand that a Country/Province is not a business, tax dollars are not a reflection of their or their company's performance, nor are they collected so the CEO, er, Prime minister/Premier can save it all and call it revenue, then trumpet themselves as saviours. We pay taxes, so they can be returned to us in the form of services etc. somewhere along the line, this theory has been totally lost, and we now pay taxes so they can do what they want, cut everything to the bone, then claim a surplus, and STILL give us nothing in return for our hard earned. I fear it will get worse before it gets better, if it ever gets better. If evryone in this country hadn't become so numb and complacent to this treatment, there would have been a revolt a long time ago.

Right you are!

On top of that, you have outfits like the Irvings and McCains getting involved in every facet of society, undercutting the competetition to the point of driving them out of business. Then, once they think they've cornered the market, they jack up the price through the roof. Once the people realize it and cry foul, the Irvings try and point to an Opera House in Fredericton NB, as if that's going to make up for it. Gee, just what Joe Canada needed - an Opera House! That will really get him from Moncton to Winnipeg in an affordable manner.

Case in point - the Orleans bus east of Montreal. It started out as a cheap alternative. Now the price of taking the bus rivals taking the train, and when it comes to service and advantages, there's no comparison. Ottawa would LOVE to see everyone suffer with the bus rather than subsidize or even RUN passenger rail. They fail to grasp the significance of the rail in holding the Confederation together even to this very day!

Dieter.