Mr. Speaker, I rise to pursue a question I asked the Minister of Transport last month about passenger rail service.
In answering my question the Minister of Transport assured me that the government would expedite whatever measures were necessary to accommodate good railway service, both passenger and freight, in New Brunswick and in the rest of Atlantic Canada.
In previous years members of this government protested loudly whenever the previous government announced any and all cuts to VIA. Now they seem to have no compunction about carrying out cuts of their own. What no one in this government has ever said is that it was a Liberal government which first took VIA service away from the people of Saint John and it was the Tory government which gave it back. Now our train is once again under the axe.
Back in 1989 when he was a member of the opposition, the current minister of government services said that VIA cuts will separate Canadians geographically, economically and socially. He is absolutely right.
In the same year the current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans called the previous government's cuts to VIA a short-sighted policy that not only will deny in the short term the people of Canada a rail passenger service which in itself is important and devastating for the communities to be affected, but more fundamentally, it is denying Canadians as we move into the nineties and in the year 2000, the future.
In 1991 the current government House leader called the previous government's cuts to VIA and other institutions a blueprint for de-Confederation.
After making statements such as these I fail to understand why this government believes it can credibly defend its miraculous change of heart. This is also the reason I take small comfort in the Minister of Transport's assurances when he says he and his government will do what is necessary to preserve good railway service.
In his speech on June 3 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the Minister of Transport said that the rail industry is gripped by problems of overregulation, of mismanagement, of overcapacity, of financial losses, of archaic work practices, of out of date legislation. Later on the same day the minister said: Canadians over the decades have constructed one of the most sophisticated and successful transportation systems in the world.
If one is not left unsure about what the minister actually thinks about our rail industry, one is at least forced to ask: If the minister believes his first statement, why does he not help reorganize the railway instead of walking away from the problem? Instead of cutting back on services and allowing the abandonment of lines, why does he not make the industry put its house in order?
I do not feel that all the blame about the problems facing the railway industry should be put on the shoulders of the unions.
In the same speech the minister said Canada needs a transportation system that contributes constructively to Canada's economic well-being. He also said that within Canada itself the cost of transporting goods is equally important. Forty per cent of provincial exports are sold in regions of Canada other than where they are produced. Transportation is an integral part of the everyday lives of millions of Canadians.
I would argue that maintaining the entire line from Saint John to Sherbrooke is vital if we want manufacturers in the region and users of our port to have adequate access to central Canada and northeastern American markets, the bread and butter of our exports.
Although there is expectation that a shortline operator will purchase and operate part or perhaps all of the line from Saint John to Sherbrooke, the people of Saint John feel that the status quo should be maintained. Abandonment is wrong. For the economic well-being of our entire region a direct line is vital.
I repeat now what I said when I originally asked the minister the question a month ago. VIA's Atlantic train between Halifax and Montreal is well used and important to the people of Saint John. With this in mind, I ask the minister to further clarify how his government plans to ensure good railway service in our region.