- Target:
- Government of Canada/Province of Ontario/York Region/Cites of Vaughan, Markham and Pickering
- Region:
- Canada
The Missing Link Report proposes to divert CP Rail freight traffic from its current route in Mississauga and Toronto to the existing CN Rail tracks in Markham and Vaughan, including Thornhill, Scarborough and Pickering. This redirection of freight traffic is proposed in order to accommodate all-day, two-way GO Train service on the Milton Corridor which would benefit the municipalities of Cambridge, Milton, Mississauga and Central Toronto.
This leaves Markham, Vaughan, Scarborough and Pickering with the potential for increased volumes of freight trains, including those carrying explosive, toxic and dangerous freight through one of the densest and fastest growing population centres in the GTA. These trains would be in addition to the dozens of freight trains, including those carrying dangerous materials that pass through all of our neighbourhoods on a daily basis. Rerouting would also require the construction of new tracks through our already congested areas.
We, the undersigned residents of the City of Vaughan, the City of Markham, City of Pickering, and the City of Toronto, strongly object to the manner in which the "Missing Link" railroad issue has been dealt with by the other GTA municipalities involved, and by their elected representatives at the local, Provincial and Federal levels.
While rerouting CP Rail freight trains to the CN Rail York Subdivision, including those carrying explosive, toxic and dangerous materials, may be of benefit to those municipalities, such action could have serious and lasting detrimental effects on our residents, including our children.
We object to the fact that reports have been commissioned, written, and accepted by those municipalities and their elected representatives without any notice to the residents or City Councils impacted by the rerouting, without any opportunity to participate in a transparent, even-handed, and objective process, and without any consideration whatsoever for the effects that such action could have on the residents.
We therefore respectfully request, in the interest of fairness, that our municipal, regional, Provincial and Federal representatives undertake to ensure that the "Missing Link" report, and the rerouting of CP Rail freight trains through our residential neighbourhoods, are re-examined in an objective, transparent, scientific, and totally public process including with community consultation meetings along the CN York Subdivision.
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The Public Transparency 4 Freight Trains petition to Government of Canada/Province of Ontario/York Region/Cites of Vaughan, Markham and Pickering was written by Public Transparency 4 Freight Trains and is in the category Government at GoPetition.