High Speed Rail Corridor

WHEREAS there is increasing use and safety pressures on our highways and an increasing public desire for an alternative transportation system that is efficient and cost-effective;

WHEREAS High Speed Rail as discussed in the 2009 FCM Report, Sustainable Community Planning in Canada: Status & Best Practices has been identified as a feature of Sustainable Community Planning;

WHEREAS there have now been plans and proposals put forward with respect to high speed linkages between:
 Vancouver – Seattle
 Edmonton – Red Deer – Calgary
 Windsor to Quebec via London, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal;

WHEREAS the province and private industry have conducted multiple studies that indicate high speed rail is economically viable;

WHEREAS High Speed Rail is an alternative transpiration method that is sustainable and supports environmental stewardship;

WHEREAS High Speed Rail has been shown to provide a source of economic development and diversity;

WHEREAS municipalities in Alberta are increasingly caught in a financial vice as other orders of government are transferring greater responsibilities in areas such as regional transpiration systems without accompanying financial transfers; and

WHEREAS provincial government holds back funding for municipal transpiration while actively funding highway expansion that is not supporting municipalities’ planning goals.