Wynne says Liberals only party committed to building high-speed rail
WATERLOO — With employees from a fast-growing startup standing behind her, Premier Kathleen Wynne says the Liberals are the only party in the Ontario election committed to building high-speed rail.
“That’s exactly why high-speed rail really illustrates how stark and consequential the choice is in this election,” Wynne said Tuesday during a campaign stop at Eleven-X.
“We are in day seven of an election campaign, and in order to get this line built there has to be a credible and realistic plan,” she said.
The Liberals have started environmental assessments, appointed the head of an advisory board for the project and included $11 billion in the 2018 budget to fund the first phase linking Toronto, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Guelph, Kitchener and London with high-speed trains, Wynne noted.
“The people here at Eleven-X routinely go into Toronto for
one-hour meetings,” she said. “If you are spending two hours on the highway both ways, for a one hour meeting, that doesn’t add up. That’s why this is so important.”
Wynne said the NDP platform removes the $33 million for the environmental assessments, and the Progressive Conservatives have no plans for high speed rail.
“We know Doug Ford lacks such a plan. He is just not a details kind of guy,” she said.
The region’s technology sector has long supported faster and more frequent trains between here and Toronto. Wynne previously has made announcements about high-speed rail at tech companies in the area. On Tuesday, she called this region’s tech sector a national jewel that is second only to Silicon Valley.
“I am in politics to support that kind of growth, that kind of success and that kind of excellence” she said.
The Liberal plan aims to have highspeed trains running between London and Toronto in 2025.
“This is really happening,” said Wynne. “We can not wait any more. We have to get on this. We are building Canada’s first high-speed rail line.”
Hiring and retaining talent is the top issue for tech companies in the region; they say fast trains between here and Toronto will make it easier to attract and keep employees. A high-speed line would carry people from Kitchener to Toronto in about 40 minutes.
“That’s why this commitment is so important,” said Wynne. “That is the game changer in terms of this region.”
A few hours after Wynne’s comments, the NDP announced a platform specific to southwestern Ontario that includes better and faster train service.
“New Democrats understand the need for fast and reliable passenger rail service along a dedicated corridor through the southwest,” the NDP said in a statement. “Succeeding will mean putting all the options on the table. We will continue the current high speed rail environmental assessment, and expand it to include other high-speed options like high performance rail.”
Cambridge MPP Kathryn McGarry, the minister of transportation, joined Wynne at Tuesday’s campaign stop. In the next 10 years the Liberal transportation plan commits more than $106 billion for new and upgraded transit and transportation infrastructure, she said.
“And that supports around 65,000 jobs per year,” McGarry said, adding that highspeed rail will generate about $20 billion in economic activity.
“This is the spark that will ignite southwestern Ontario’s next economic boom,” said McGarry.
Vaughn MPP Steven Del Duca, the minister for economic development, was also at Eleven-X.
“The tech cluster in this region is one of the three or four in North America that is literally in the process of creating the economy of tomorrow,” he said. “Our government understands the incredible advantage that offers to the entire province.”
The government has to help the tech sector by building high-speed rail, Del Duca said.
“So when the smartest people in the world step off a plane at Pearson, they have a ready and reliable way to get here, and to get here fast,” he said. “We are doing that.”