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robmausser said:
The same place where they twice said the majority of Quebecors want to separate from Canada.
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Neither constructive, nor accurate.

Urban Sky said:
I have no idea what business such unconstructive political discussions have in this forum, but I would assume that a 1.16 percentage-point gap (to compare, the Scottish Independence referendum was lost by a margin of 10.6% in 2015, whereas the Brexit referendum was won by a margin of 3.8% the following year) with a turnout of more than 90% is well within the margin of error of any poll which predicted that there might be a majority:
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en.wikipedia.org

1995 Quebec referendum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

In fact, these were the final polls before the referendum, of which many showed a relative majority for independence, even though none indicated an absolute majority for either side:
View attachment 333450

And whereas the vast majority of Quebeckers have accepted their fate that they will one day die as Canadian citizens and be buried on Canadian soil, many have not forgotten the many controversies (such as rejection rates of up to 12% in some districts) around the referendum...
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I'm not sure why the answer to an off-topic and inaccurate post is another off topic post which concludes with needlessly inflammatory language.

Perhaps both comments could be removed.

But before they are.........

What the pro-sovereignty portions of the Quebec press wrote back then was that the majority of Francophone Quebecers voted to separate, which was true. That strong no votes by the anglophone and immigrant communities led to the that outcome. That said, those sentiments made many Quebecers feel unwelcome and second-class and were ill-considered.
 
The Ottawa - Peterborough corridor isn't 100% existing... some pieces are now missing. I'm wondering if the Montreal to Toronto trains will bypass Ottawa on the CP line from Montreal to Perth. To all of a sudden not have a contention with CN freight on the Kingston route and achieve time reductions wouldn't make sense.
 
Imo the most interesting potential use of the CP row is the installation of VIA owned rails along it to enable a shorter route from Vaudreuil to casselman/maxville or debeaujeu with a potential 200kph speed. However, this benefit seems like it would likely be less significant removing bottlenecks at the flat junctions been dorval and gare centrale.
 
kEiThZ said:
If HFR is supposedly getting Ottawa-Montreal to between 1:30 and 1:45, that would imply that Ottawa-Dorval is 1-1:15 hrs.

Given the two transfers and 30 mins required, to get from downtown to Ottawa airport, a transfer at Tremblay station and then at Dorval in 1 hr starts to look attractive if the air fare is competitive, which given Ottawa's situation as an Air Canada fortress hub is far too common.
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I always found heading to YUL for a flight was much straightforward when I lived in DT Ottawa. My English is bad (so is my French, but the latter is still better) and I enjoyed the services in French at YUL thus I preferred to head there instead. Where I live it's just a 30 minutes train ride to YUL.
 
ManyQuestions said:
Imo the most interesting potential use of the CP row is the installation of VIA owned rails along it to enable a shorter route from Vaudreuil to casselman/maxville or debeaujeu with a potential 200kph speed. However, this benefit seems like it would likely be less significant removing bottlenecks at the flat junctions been dorval and gare centrale.
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Just to clarify that VIA also owns the former CP Shortline ROW between Rigaud and Ottawa and this was reserved for potential future HSR service. This was formerly used for CP transcontinental service between Montreal and Ottawa.
 
Northern Light said:
Respectfully, we will disagree, as we so often do.

First off, I specifically noted TFSA is a tax shelter (income generated inside them is not taxable), not that its a deduction/credit, so there was no need to correct my accurate statement.

Second........as someone who its fair to say is 'comfortable', I pay well less as a % of income on my tax than the sticker rate.

Its not a percent or two less.........its a lot less.

If your paying more, fire your accountant.

I would strongly advocate for a zero-deduction model, where 100% of income is taxed identically; but with a higher tax-free exemption and a lower rate structure; albeit, I'd be content to see more revenue collected as well.
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At the risk of furthering this tangent, my dad was an accountant and a bit of packrat. After he passed and we were clearing out his house, I found tax returns dating back to the late'40s/early '50s. Back then, the entire return, including the tax tables, was four pages.
robmausser said:
Yes, buying up the GEXR line and creating HFR there to London through Kitchener (and utilizing the Metrolinx improvements)
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Buying anything assumes a willing seller unless folks are considering expropriation.
 
lrt's friend said:
Just to clarify that VIA also owns the former CP Shortline ROW between Rigaud and Ottawa and this was reserved for potential future HSR service. This was formerly used for CP transcontinental service between Montreal and Ottawa.
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Currently yes, but there is talk of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) purchasing it for continued use as a recreational trail. The lease of the trail was extended until June 30, 2021 and further extended until August 31, 2021 during discussions.
 
Northern Light said:
To sum up the article................"I want HSR"

That's pretty much it.
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He does like the electrification part of the plan though. If Collenette wants HSR so much, why didn't he fund it in the 6 years he was Transportation Minister?

The problem with an HSR focused plan is it targets the Airline's tiny market share in the corridor and ignores the massive market share the automobile has. HSR is fine for what it does, but we can't ignore conventional intercity rail service.
 
roger1818 said:
He does like the electrification part of the plan though. If Collenette wants HSR so much, why didn't he fund it in the 6 years he was Transportation Minister?
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An excellent question. He was a proponent of investing in VIA, at least publicly, but he never did seem to be able to get cabinet on board.

roger1818 said:
The problem with an HSR focused plan is it targets the Airline's tiny market share in the corridor and ignores the massive market share the automobile has. HSR is fine for what it does, but we can't ignore conventional intercity rail service.
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I would disagree in as much as I would write the statement this way.........

The problem with an HSR focused plan is that its not going to happen right now, and the higher price tag risks deferring or nixing all together any meaningful improvement.

*****

I'm a proponent of HSR, but I will file this under 'down payment' or 'phase 1' or w/e and say lets get this done then push for incremental upgrades to HSR over time.

But lets not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
 
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nfitz said:
The La Presse article said the minimum is 100 minutes not 90 minutes. Current best scheduled time from Dorval to Central is 17 minutes ... hopefully they can knock it to 15 with the new track through Turcot and some switch/track upgrades from St-Henri into Central. That would make Dorval to Ottawa 85 minutes not 60 minutes!
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Honestly doesn't change much. It's the substantially improved convenience that will make Dorval a really solid option. Even if it is 85 mins. And that should help the competitive pressure on Air Canada and Westjet at YOW, especially with international travel where Ottawa residents often have to backtrack to Toronto anyway.

Heck, I hope airlines start codesharing with VIA from Ottawa. Lufthansa, Air France and KLM used to run buses from Dorval to Tremblay station. With HFR and REM they can simply help passengers make an easy connection.
 
Just a bit of an aside question with all this 200kmh talk: The new Siemens trains can do 200 kmh. Are there any areas on the current corridor that are rated for those speeds?

How fast can the new Siemens trains go on the existing lines?

I know some areas had 100MPH postings for the LRCs... is that still the limit? Or are there places rated for 177kmh or even 200kmh on the CN track.

Any ability to play "catch up" after being stuck behind freight will be a nice addition.
 
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