Liberals and Conservatives failed the passenger train, says Skip

The NDP candidate for Sault Ste. Marie held a press conference this morning at the train station adjacent to Station Mall, saying the incumbent Conservative candidate for Sault Ste. Marie does not understand trains.

“We’re here unfortunately not about to see the Algoma Central Passenger train departing in a few minutes, because once again the Conservative government has seen this as non-essential to support such a valuable and essential bit of infrastructure for the north,” said Skip Morrison, NDP candidate for Sault Ste. Marie.

“Mr. Hayes or Minister Raitt are obviously not been aware of the geography of this area,” he added.

Joined by NDP incumbants Charlie Angus (Timmins — James Bay) and Carol Hughes (Algoma — Manitoulin — Kapuskasing), the press conference was timed for 9:20 -- when Morrison expected the train should have pulled out of the station.

Morrison was aware the ACR has not departed from the Station Mall for many years, but from about a kilometre and a half away at the CN Rail yard on Carmen’s Way.

"We chose that for convenience and because historically there was a train station there as well," said Morrison.

Angus had choice words for Conservative incumbent for Sault Ste. Marie, Bryan Hayes.

“He said he would be an advocate, he would be a voice. He got elected and he disappeared. He’s been no-show Hayes. And nowhere do you see this more clearly than on his failure to show any kind of willingness to stand up for the people of Sault Ste. Marie for this vital piece of infrastructure,” said Angus.

Looking at Hayes’ record, he has one of the highest voting attendance records for calendar year 2014, having voted 99.6-percent of the time — higher than Angus'.

Angus said his riding is still recovering from loss of the Northlander train, which ran from Toronto to Cochrane.

That passenger service was discontinued in 2012, despite Angus’ fight to maintain it.

Once the ACR pulls away from Sault Ste. Marie, it runs through a swath of Hughes’ riding. She said she receives calls from constituents affected on a regular basis.

The community of Oba, Ontario is especially affected, said Hughes, with only a logging road connecting it to Hearst, Ontario now that passenger service has ceased.

“Come winter, come fall, come spring, it will be quite a problem,” she said.

The Liberal Party's hands are not clean on the matter of passenger rail either, said Morrison.

“It is showing once again that the Conservatives, as the Liberals before them who de-regulated the passenger train service, that there is not any kind of attention to the importance of this type of infrastructure,” he said.

Morrison said the passenger rail issue is a personal one for him.

“When I was a teenager I worked on the ACR. I walked pulling spikes from Sault Ste. Marie to the Agawa Canyon. I have seen that country at a slower pace than the train, on the train. It goes to the heart of what people recognize being from Sault Ste. Marie means,” he said.

A press release from Morrison's campaign can be seen below:

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“It was avoidable,” says Skip Morrison, New Democrat candidate for the Sault Ste. Marie riding.

Morrison, joined Monday by longtime NDP incumbents Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) and Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing) decried the end of passenger rail service on the Algoma Central Railway (ACR) which has cost jobs and is damaging the regional economy.

“But for the intense disinterest of the Conservative government and their local representative, the ACR would still be operating,” said Morrison.

“We need an MP willing to do the hard work to stand up for jobs in Sault Ste. Marie.”

New Democrats, including MP Carol Hughes have joined a broadly representative group of stakeholders fighting to maintain the service, which was put in jeopardy when the Conservatives cut a small but essential subsidy.

Hughes has been by far the most vocal parliamentarian defending the Algoma Central Railway, speaking to the issue over 30 times. She regularly challenged the government by presenting petitions and addressing questions to Conservative ministers.

“This comes down to a failure of leadership,” said Hughes. “The Tories dismantled vital regional infrastructure - a successful transportation route that helped sustain at least $38 Million in economic activity - while the local MP sat on the sidelines.”
Hughes referred to a study by BDO which estimated the economic impact of passenger rail at between $38 million and $48 million per year.

“It was a great return on a $2.2 million investment,” said Hughes.

Charlie Angus, who battled the closure of the Ontario Northland rail service in his own riding, was particularly critical of the role played by Tory candidate Bryan Hayes in the loss of the ACR.

“It’s simple: Hayes was missing in action on this file,” said Angus. “While the Conservatives’ failed plan is actually costing jobs, look to New Democrats like Skip Morrison to defend the Northern Ontario economy.”

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(PHOTO L-R: Incumbant NDP candidate Charlie Angus and Carol Hughes stand next to Sault Ste. Marie DNP candidate Skip Morrison during a press conference this morning in the Satation Mall parking lot. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)