Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present a petition.
Before its discontinuance, VIA Rail Atlantic, linking Halifax and Montreal through southwestern New Brunswick, was a successful service with 66% occupancy and 336 passengers handled each time it travelled. Given the increasing scarcity and price of fossil fuels and our concerns over health related air quality issues, the petitioners request that the House of Commons, through Transport Canada and the federal crown corporation VIA Rail, restore passenger service linking Saint John and Fredericton westward through Sherbrooke to Montreal and east through Moncton to Halifax.