Mr. Speaker, southern Vancouver Island is the fastest growing region in Canada. Currently we face a major transportation problem with the only arterial highway in and out of Victoria choked most of the time.
However, there is a solution available in the existing Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. We must put in place measures to ensure its viability as an effective and efficient mover of goods, services and people. It is currently owned by Canadian Pacific and operated in a grossly inefficient fashion by VIA Rail.
I encourage the Minister of Transport to convene a meeting of members of the federal government, the provincial government and Canadian Pacific to address this pressing issue. This is not an issue of politics but of public necessity. To allow this railway to be abandoned will be a gross travesty to the taxpayers as ultimately money will need to be spent to provide an alternative form of transportation to southern Vancouver Island.