Are we finally being heard?

The BC Parliamentary Secretary of Transit, George Anderson, spoke in the Legislature about the Island Rail Corridor saying the opportunities were profound!

Our voice isn't small, it's a crowd of nearly 32,000 people! The words were great to hear out of MOTT's right hand man; now let's see some action! 

What did he say?

"Across British Columbia existing rail corridor service corridors of opportunity. A vision for jobs, prosperity and a province that leads on Vancouver Island. The shared visioning process for the island rail corridor is asking not what rail once was, but what this corridor can mean for our future. And those opportunities are profound. The island corridor connects ports in Nanaimo and Port Alberni. 

The corridor is close to CFB Esquimalt and CFB Comox military bases. Moreover, the corridor presents an opportunity for reconciliation, not as a slogan but in partnership with First Nations at the table as full partners, shaping a future built on respect and trust. But the island corridor is only the beginning. Across British Columbia, rail corridors have always unlocked prosperity.  From moving minerals out of the teck smelter in trail to the potential of carrying Kalesnikoff's mass timber products to the coast, to unlocking the opportunities of the port of Prince Rupert, the Sea to Sky corridor, and the Fraser Valley. 

When our rail corridors are strong, we create opportunity for jobs, welders, carpenters and electricians. The skilled trades that built this province.  keep young people here at home and provide the hope you can measure in paycheques for businesses, faster freight and stronger supply chains, and confidence for investment. For the environment, Lower emissions, fewer trucks on the road and a cleaner province for the next generation. 

Our existing rail corridors are not just about tracks on the ground. They are about the direction we choose as a province. Will the next generation inherit limits, congestion and climate crisis, or will they inherit possibility, opportunity and hope? These existing rail corridors allow us to create abundance, abundance of opportunity, prosperity and of hope. The island rail corridor, and all of our rail corridors, serve as a promise of jobs, reconciliation and prosperity. 

And that promise is the future of British Columbia."

Let's keep the momentum going! There's strength in numbers!

Warren Skaalrud
Petitioner and Founder of the Restore Island Rail Society