Nearing end of the line for HCR funding commitment, task force says

The City of Sault Ste. Marie-appointed task force that’s been appointed to lobby for Huron Central Railway (HCR) funding says it’s "cautiously optimistic" that funding commitments from the federal and provincial governments will materialize in the coming weeks.

If the operator of the 283-kilometre, short line track that connects Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury can’t secure the $42 million over five years that it needs to in order to maintain the railway, all service along the railway will be discontinued by the end of the year.

HCR task force co-chair Steve Butland told SooToday Friday that the HCR requires a financial commitment by Nov. 1. 

The company plans to issue layoff notices to HCR staff if no commitment is in place by that time. 

“We’re nearing the end of line, if you will,” Butland said. “They have to give layoff notices to staff by the end of October, if in fact the railway will discontinue operation at the end of December.”

Butland says that the task force - comprised of Butland, Joe Fratesi and HCR local representative Alison Horbatuk - has been in talks with Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano to try and secure funding from the province.

“We keep putting that forward, and have - to say the least - pestered Mr. Romano about this,” said Butland. “He’s been very forthcoming, and I think he’s doing his level best to address the issue.”

Romano told SooToday that he and his team have been working with all parties - including representatives from Domtar in Espanola, EACOM Timber Corporation in Nairn Centre and Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie - while speaking regularly with the Premier’s Office and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, in addition to daily conversations with cabinet and internal staff.

“There are a number of items - obviously, I can’t discuss the specifics of - that probably will require a few more weeks of my time before I will be able to make that formal recommendation to the premier’s office,” Romano said.

He cites Ontario’s deficit as a potential pitfall in getting a deal done immediately.

“I’m cautiously optimistic, but we have to continue working diligently to get the due diligence done on this,” said Romano. “This is not a simple matter, it is a very complicated situation.”

“If you look back to during the campaign period and before, we were led to believe as a province that we only had a $6.7 billion deficit in Ontario, we’ve now learned that in fact it’s more than twice that amount...so we should take nothing for granted.”

The HCR’s initial application for a grant from the National Trade and Corridors Fund - requesting $23.1 million from the federal government and $18.48 from the provincial government - was rejected in April 2018.

Butland told SooToday that the federal government has pledged to pony up its share of funding, but only if the province commits to its share of funding first.

“For the most part, MP Sheehan and staff and ministry in Ottawa are saying, ‘when the province comes to the table, we’ll look at it then,’ but we’re saying, ‘no, you can’t look at it then, you better be looking at it now',” Butland said. “We’re on a very short timeline now, but everybody’s totally aware of the repercussions if this doesn’t go forward.”

The task force is also calling on Premier Doug Ford to honour his campaign trail commitment to support the railway. 

“Yes, I appreciate the difficulties for the government, but we always are very prompt to mention and suggest the premier himself - he wasn’t the premier at the time - when he came to Sault Ste. Marie, said ‘yes I support this railway, it’s important that it continue operation,’” he continued. “The premier himself has said that, and he come forward with his commitment that he made to Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Espanola, Nairn Centre and every other place in between.”

The HCR received $33 million from the provincial and federal governments for extensive repairs and ongoing maintenance of the railway in 2010.

Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehan was not immediately available for comment.