Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson is demanding action on the rail corridor between Squamish and 100 Mile House.
He says the NDP has been working on this file for a while and he’s frustrated with how long things are taking.
“I know that the conversation actually started last year at UBCM, and I think at that time we had a pretty good response to folks joining us for probably an hour or two hour meeting to discuss this rail line. Again, I can’t stress that enough that’s dating back quite some time and we’ve really seen no clarity around it since. In fact it’s been a challenge to get meetings with the ministry.”
Doerkson says the inaction has already had a negative impact on the area.
“We’ve seen now the loss of the Rocky Mountaineer service for 2027 and certainly we would not want to lose that for another year and of course there are some potential projects in the 100 Mile area, and we’ve obviously lost the West Fraser mill here not so long ago which was 160-165 full-time jobs, and of course that’s created a lot of challenges for the small businesses in the area as well. We’re looking for any opportunity in the Cariboo Chilcotin to promote any kind of a new opportunity at all.”
Doerkson says he would like to get a timeline and a clear plan from the government on when this corridor will be open for business.
CN Rail began the process of shutting down the 344-kilometre rail corridor between Squamish and 100 Mile House in 2025.
The province owns the line and leases it to CN.
