Gerard Kennedy

January 27, 2009

12 Greater Toronto Area Liberal MPs Make Urgent Call To Protect Citizens on Railway Corridors

(Ottawa) 12 Area MPs today called upon the federal and provincial government to act immediately to uphold the authority of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) to protect the well being of those citizens living along the railway lines in the greater Toronto area.

At risk of being ignored is a CTA decision made to protect local residents and businesses in the Junction area of the city of Toronto from further serious negative impact from extreme construction noise and vibration by Metrolinx (the former GO Transit).

Metrolinx is planning to take the CTA decision to Federal Court this Thursday morning to seek a continued stay of the decision pending the hearing of a full appeal, which would not be heard until after. “The effect would be to completely wipe out the protective mandate of the CTA,” said local MP Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale-High Park). Having won their case, average citizens are now being forced by this questionable maneuver to respond through the courts beyond their financial means, and the effect of a stay, if granted, would be to tie the matter up in legal proceedings until after the construction is completed a year from now.

Kennedy was joined by fellow members of parliament Andrew Kania (Brampton West), Alan Tonks (York South-Weston), Paul Szabo (Mississauga South), Mario Silva (Davenport), Navdeep Bains (Mississauga Brampton South), Gurbax Malhi , (Bramalea Gore-Malton ), Judy Sgro (York West), Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre), Bonnie Crombie (Mississauga-Streetsville), Ruby Dhalla (Brampton-Springdale) and Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West) in a public letter to John Baird, federal Minister of Transportation and Kathleen Wynne, Ontario Minister of Transportation.

The group is calling on the provincial government to direct Metrolinx to withdraw its case in favour of working with both the community, the CTA, and also calling on the federal government to assert its support for the CTA’s authority. The MPs are also asking for the two levels of government to collaborate on better citizen protection during the proposed Metrolinx/GO expansion to address other contentious health issues such as electrification over diesel. “Railway companies enjoy significant rights, such as the exemption from most provincial and municipal laws on the railway right-of-ways, so they must also have obligations as corporate citizens to respect the rules they are bound under”, said Alan Tonks.

“While Metrolinx may be a quasi-independent agency, it is clearly time that government make it accountable for running roughshod over local neighbourhoods, whether in 416 or 905,” added Kennedy.

“The expansion of the GTA’s transit network is important to the economic future of our region,” said Navdeep Bains. “However, as we expand this network it is critical that it doesn’t compromise the quality of life in the affected communities. We urge all levels of government to work together with the residents of the Junction to ensure that noise and vibrations level are kept to an acceptable level.”

Thousands of local residents stand to be affected by Metrolinx/GO construction and service expansion plans on the Georgetown line, Lakeshore and other lines.

Under the cover of a Speech from the Throne devoid of content the federal government slipped out some hard facts about failed job creation that Stephen Harper would prefer Canadians didn’t notice, Liberal Infrastructure Critic Gerard Kennedy said today.

Toronto – Gerard Kennedy, M.P. for Parkdale-High Park is hosting a next day “Budget Breakfast” to allow area residents to review and give feedback on the 2010 Federal Budget which will be presented to Parliament on Thursday March 4th in Ottawa.

At the Community Council meeting on February 18, Gerard released a 8-page report that details his parliamentary and community initiatives and activities since October.

Liberal MPs today called on the Harper government to increase funding for the federal program to prevent and reduce homelessness, and commit to sustained, long term funding.