Halton leaders take fight against CN hub to Ottawa

Halton mayors are calling for the federal government to quash the proposed CN intermodal hub in Milton following a meeting with federal ministers, MPs and the Prime Minister’s Office.

“There’s only one ask coming out of this get-together here …” said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz at the media briefing in Parliament Hill on Tuesday. “Say ‘big no’ to that truck-rail hub that (CN) are advocating to be located in Milton.”

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said that the issue goes beyond Milton and the four Halton municipalities.

The intermodal facility is proposed for CN-owned lands bordered by Tremaine Road to the west, Britannia Road to the north and Lower Base Line to the south. The $250-million, 400-acre “Milton Logistics Hub” is designed to transfer containers between trucks and railcars and would operate around the clock with an estimated 1,600 daily truck trips and four intermodal trains.

Meed Ward explained that there are about 34,000 residents living within a kilometre of the area, as well as a hospital, 12 schools and two long-term care facilities.

“This is not about whether we agree with rail traffic …. we do, but it’s about what goes where,” she said. “It’s about putting uses in close proximity to each other that will conflict.”

After years of advocating for residents to have a voice at the table, Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette said they feel vindicated by the environment assessment report released by a federal review panel in January.

“The panel’s findings are irrefutable,” he said. “CN’s proposed project will have significant, adverse environmental effects on the local community and the region and this cannot be mitigated.”

CN’s plans for the hub were the subject of a lengthy review panel hearing last year, where the Halton municipalities and Conservation Halton presented expert reports on over 20 technical disciplines that identified numerous concerns and local impacts. The panel also heard from local resident groups opposed to the location of the potential hub.

The panel report, released Jan. 27, says the project would have significant adverse cumulative environmental effects on air quality, human health, wildlife habitat, and the availability of agricultural land. It was also noted, in the summary, that with mitigation plans proposed by CN — along with additional measures as recommended by the panel — the proposed hub would not have significant adverse environmental effects.