May 18th, 2022

Four years later, Northerners still waiting for Northlander: NDP

TIMMINS - Doug Ford’s campaign announcement on Sunday to bring back the Northlander is a rewind to 2018, when he promised to bring back the passenger rail service during his first term in office, said NDP MPPs Gilles Bisson (Timmins) and John Vanthof (Timiskaming-Cochrane):

“Doug Ford must think Northerners forgot the promise he made to them four years ago. To Ford, it’s just another broken promise, but for the people of Timmins and Cochrane, it’s meant four more years without passenger train service,” said Bisson. “Northerners who have now been waiting for over a decade to be reconnected to neighbouring communities, and to Toronto, need more than empty words. They need a government that will work for them, fix what the Liberals broke, and actually restore the Northlander.”

NDP MPPs Gilles Bisson and John Vanthof have been calling for the return of the Northlander since the Liberal government cancelled the passenger train service in 2012. After Ford’s 2018 campaign-time promise, he backtracked and announced he would restore service to Timmins but not beyond. Sunday’s announcement reflects Doug Ford’s initial empty promise of restoring full Northlander service.

“We would like to thank all Northerners who made the Ford government realize that their initial announcement to provide service to Timmins but not Cochrane was a mistake,” said Vanthof. “What Northerners now deserve is a government committed to providing a fully connected service to Timmins, Cochrane, and the James Bay Coast. They need action, not just words.

Northerners have fought long and hard for a return of this essential service and the ONTC has the technical knowledge, and the skill to bring it back.

Northern Ontario cannot afford another election-time promise, quickly forgotten. An NDP government will not forget. We will bring full passenger rail back to the Northeast.”

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