Minister of Transport says CN rail-hub in Milton will ‘create jobs’ and ‘reduce emissions overall’
Published December 8, 2021 at 10:23 am
The Canadian Transportation Agency recently released its decision to approve the railway line changes relating to the CN rail-hub project and despite concerns from the Milton community, the Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, says it will “create jobs” and “reduce emissions overall.”
For quite some time, Halton municipalities worked together in an attempt to urge the federal government to refuse the approval of the proposed CN rail-hub in Milton. Following its approval, Milton councillors along with several members of the community expressed their disappointment.
In a statement released on Nov. 25, Milton councillors Sameera Ali and Zeeshan Hamid said they were “extremely disappointed” with the federal government.
“As the councillors for the area, we are extremely disappointed that the federal government has once again ignored its obligation to protect the health of Canadians and given CN a go-ahead,” read the statement.
“By doing so, the federal government has ignored the expertise of its own panel that it appointed, which said that the project will cause significant unmitigatable harm to the health of Miltonians.”
In an exclusive interview, Alghabra told insauga‘s Khaled Iwamura that while an environmental impact assessment was done for the proposal, it found that overall it could proceed, despite finding that it may have some negative emission issues.
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“That on a whole, given their benefit that is overall, is going to reduce emissions overall because it’s going to get trucks off the road,” said Alghabra, adding that many shipments come from the Port of Montreal on trucks.
“Having this hub in Milton will enable us to move so many trucks off the road and it will create jobs.”
Alghabra concluded by stating that he believes it’s important to work with the community and to work with the town of Milton on addressing their concerns.
“My colleague Adam van Koeverden has been a champion of this issue; of raising these concerns. My commitment to Adam and all people of Milton is that we will work with them on mitigating any risks and any concerns that they have.”
“I think on a whole, it is a good project for the region, it’s a good project for the province and it’s a good project for the country.”
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