Petition calls for train to Nunavik

Written by jrood

February 14, 2001 Nearly 4,000 Quebecers have signed a petition that calls for a cross-Quebec railroad that would link the province's Nunavik region to southern Quebec, The Montreal Gazette reports. The Quebec government and its major financial institutions should support the construction of a "Trans-Quebec Express" railway, which would cross Quebec from the Gaspé to Nunavik, a huge area bordered by Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Ungava Bay and Labrador, says the petition, which was tabled yesterday at the Quebec legislature by MLA Denis Trottier.

The 10,000-kilometer (6,200-mile)
route would take a week to travel and wind around the entire coastline of
Nunavik from Kuujjuaq to Kuujjuaraapik. The "Kuujjuaq" would have
stops at Pingualuit Park in Kangiqsujuaq and other communities on the coasts of
Ungava and Hudson Bay.

The railway’s inspiration
comes from the famed Trans-Siberian railway that runs across Russia. Jobs, new
economic possibilities – such as greenhouses in Nunavik – and more communication
between the various regions of Quebec would result from the express, says
Michelle L. Dery, president of Fondation TransQuébec Express, who has lobbied
for this project since 2004.

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