Mr. Speaker, on October 24, I put a question in this House to the Minister of Transport. My question dealt with a statement made to the newspaper Le Soleil by the secretary of state for agriculture and agri-food, and fisheries and oceans, who is also the hon. member for Bellechasse, the riding next to mine.
The secretary of state was quoted as saying that the station in Lévis would close on December 1 and that rail service would be transferred to the north shore, in Sainte-Foy. I thought that statement was rather strange, which is why I wanted to ask the Minister of Transport a question. I asked him if the decision had been made at his level, even though there had been a recommendation by the national transportation agency. He said no.
During question period in the House, we do not have much time. I would like to use my time today to get further information on the subject I raised in my question.
I found the answer of the minister very interesting when he said:
We are looking at a number of options for rail service across the country. On the matter of the Lévis station, no decision has yet been made. I will gladly consider any idea or opinion my colleague or anyone else might have on the subject before I make my decision.
Afterwards, I called for public consultations and I tried to find out if the national transportation agency had held public hearings, because it did hold a few public hearings in 1991. But there were no public hearings this time because the NTA decided there would not be any.
Because of public interest, since there had been no agreement between Via Rail and CN, the then Minister of Transport, under the Conservatives, decided, on March 16, 1993, to close Lévis station. It seems that the situation is the same today because, on February 22, 1996, CN got permission to abandon lines along the St. Lawrence River.
However, negotiations between CN and Via Rail have yet to be completed. Since there is still no agreement, Via Rail has let it be known, probably through the member for Bellechasse, that it would be forced to go to Sainte-Foy. In the meantime, two trains stopped at the Charny station every day, but VIA announced in an internal bulletin that they would no longer stop in Charny, which means no more train station on the south shore.
In these circumstances, as a member of Parliament, I decided to hold public consultations on November 11 and 12. I will consult the people, ask who is for and who is against before the irreparable closing of the Lévis and Charny stations so that people who disagree with this decision can express their opinion.
Today, I ask the transport minister's representative to help me by insisting that VIA Rail make all pertinent documents public, which it has refused to do until now, so that people can express an informed opinion.