Tearing up rail lines denies hope for future
Written by jrood
There is a big difference between an important letter mislaid or lost (with apologies to Canada Post) and a letter that is deliberately destroyed, according to an editorial in Ontario's North Bay Nugget. There is always hope that the lost letter will turn up somewhere, at some time. The destroyed letter is gone forever unless someone made a copy.
Railways are not letters
and they cannot be cheaply copied. Once they have gone, no one is likely to
rebuild them. This is why so many municipal councils, including North Bay’s,
have expressed concern or alarm in response to Canadian Pacific’s decision to
abandon three Ontario short-haul lines if it cannot find some other company to
run them. These include CP’s line from Smiths Falls to Petawawa, the line from
Petawawa to Mattawa, and it wants someone to take over the line from
Temiscaming to Sudbury.
The deadline for the
Ottawa Valley line was April 5 so a lot of people are very worried.
It is very easy to
denounce Canadian Pacific as a hard-hearted corporation leaving many small
communities in the lurch. In fact it must comply with a host of provincial and
federal regulations before it can do much of anything. But CP is not Joe’s barbershop.
If Joe closes down a younger barber may replace him. Very likely Joe has closed
because too many customers prefer hair stylists.
CP is a gigantic
corporation with its roots buried in Canadian history. It is a corporation and
its directors have decided to abandon these lines because they believe it is in
their shareholders interests.
Many want provincial or
federal governments to intervene. It is unlikely either wants to put up money
to subsidize what appear to be money-losing railway lines.
Yet the question remains
when a huge corporation makes decisions to profit its shareholders must the
public interest be ignored? Abandoning these lines will affect every community
they serve. What is worse is that the damage is not only immediate but extends
into the future.
No industry that needs
rail service will ever consider locating in these communities.
If CP wants to stop service
on these lines because the railroad loses money, it is understandable. At the
same time, the public has become very cynical about business decisions.
Taxpayers are paying too much to bail out corporations whose executives made
thoroughly bad decisions.
Stopping service serves
the shareholders immediate interests. Tearing up the rail lines is a denial of
the people’s hopes for the future.
Governments are not being
unreasonable if they demand that CP leaves its lines untouched for at least a
decade. At the same time the municipalities who are protesting must agree not
to levy taxes upon dormant railroad property that may be a future asset.
CP was built by visionaries
who dreamed of a glorious future. The company must not damage the far more
modest aspirations of small-town folk struggling to create a better future for
their community.
