Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Feds invest almost $5B for new made-in-Canada Via Rail cars

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Feds invest almost $5B for new made-in-Canada Via Rail cars · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $ 4. 7 billion investment to
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: manufacture and maintain over 300 passenger rail cars for Via
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Rail's ageing fleet.
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  Speaker 2: Canada needs better, more reliable passenger rail. Our rail cars
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  Speaker 2: on our long distance and remote routes are more than
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  Speaker 2: 70 years old. They were built when the NHL had
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: six teams. LAUGHTER Goalies wouldn't wear masks. The Leafs would
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  Speaker 2: win the Cup. It's a long time ago.
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  Speaker 1: So what will this massive investment look like and how
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  Speaker 1: much will it help address other operational issues that Via
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  Speaker 1: Rail is facing? Stephen McKinnon is the Federal Minister of
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  Speaker 1: Transport and he joins me now.
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  Speaker 3: Nice to see you, Minister. Thanks for coming in.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: So, Via Rail's current passenger fleet, they were manufactured in Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 1: if I have it right, many decades ago. So, this
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  Speaker 1: was an American solution at the time. Now, you're announcing
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  Speaker 1: a $ 5 billion, a nearly $ 5 billion investment to buy
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: them from Alstom, Thunder Bay plant. Why are you going
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  Speaker 1: with a made-in-Canada solution here?
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  Speaker 4: Thunder Bay, La Poquetière, Saint-Bruno de Montalville in Quebec, about
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  Speaker 4: 700 jobs, in fact. This is bringing manufacturing back to Canada.
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  Speaker 4: You know, when you buy rail cars every 70 years,
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  Speaker 4: you have to work very, very hard to generate the capacity. Fortunately,
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  Speaker 4: we were able to come to an agreement with Alstom
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  Speaker 4: to use their factories, which currently do a lot of
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  Speaker 4: great work for Canadian transit companies.
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  Speaker 3: TTC.
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  Speaker 4: Saw a lot of Go cars in there today. I
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  Speaker 4: know La Pocaté is equally busy working on those. But,
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  Speaker 4: you know, it really brings it home when, One guy
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  Speaker 4: took me aside and said, you know, a few years ago, Mr. McKinnon,
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  Speaker 4: we didn't know if we'd have jobs here much longer.
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  Speaker 4: And now I think I can see retiring here. And
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  Speaker 4: that really brought it home. So we are bringing construction
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  Speaker 4: and manufacturing back to Canada. You saw with our earlier
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  Speaker 4: announcement about locomotives assembled in Montreal, again, first time. This
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  Speaker 4: is building Canada strong. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: The Prime Minister said today, obviously, you want to use
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  Speaker 1: as many Canadian goods as you possibly can in constructing
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  Speaker 1: these new train cars. He said he wants to see
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  Speaker 1: Alstom maximize the use of Canadian steel. So it sounds
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  Speaker 1: like there's still the potential for foreign imports, or will
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  Speaker 1: this be all Canadian steel?
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  Speaker 3: Obviously, that sector is hurting right now.
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  Speaker 1: This would be potentially a boon for them if they
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  Speaker 1: could contribute some steel to these cars.
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  Speaker 4: I haven't looked at a supplier yet, but the carbon
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  Speaker 4: steel in these cars will be Canadian steel, absolutely.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 1: So you're adding 313, I think it is, in total
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  Speaker 1: rail cars with this purchase. That gives you some flexibility
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  Speaker 1: to potentially expand, right? I mean, this is a whole
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  Speaker 1: new fleet. The Prime Minister said today that the government
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  Speaker 1: is exploring new routes and how we can connect more Canadians.
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  Speaker 3: What routes are you considering? What is potentially on offer here?
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  Speaker 4: Well, we have had an issue in Gaspé, as you
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  Speaker 4: may know. Gaspé track got washed out. It's the property
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  Speaker 4: of the province. The province has... been investing in it.
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  Speaker 4: We'd like to see that go more quickly. So Gaspé
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  Speaker 4: is one example. But we're always looking for, and VIA
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  Speaker 4: is always looking for, places to better serve Canadians. We
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  Speaker 4: have these iconic trains, the Canadian, the Ocean. We want
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  Speaker 4: people back on the trains. And we understand that VIA
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  Speaker 4: has come up short, particularly in the parts of Canada
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  Speaker 4: where it must share track with cargo railroads. These are
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  Speaker 4: problems that are hard to solve. But the problems that
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  Speaker 4: are within VIA's control and the market opportunities that are
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  Speaker 4: within VIA's control, I think I've been pretty clear about
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  Speaker 4: our expectation that those things improve.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there's no major, there's some cities in
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  Speaker 1: this country where there's no rail service whatsoever. I think Calgary, Regina, Fredericton, St. John, there's,
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  Speaker 1: I still get emails from one story I did years
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  Speaker 1: ago on VIA Rail about the Victoria to Courtney line
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  Speaker 1: on Vancouver Island in BC. Like, are these some of
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  Speaker 1: the things that maybe could be revived now that there's
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  Speaker 1: new train cars on order?
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  Speaker 4: Well, again, we are going to continue being aggressive both
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  Speaker 4: with respect to high-speed rail and Alto and opening that up,
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  Speaker 4: getting more people in high-density locations in the country. And yes,
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  Speaker 4: Via Rail is absolutely free to explore market opportunities where
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  Speaker 4: they may exist that we can bring passenger rail back
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  Speaker 4: to Canadians.
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  Speaker 3: You mentioned operational challenges.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, Via Rail's on-time performance has been poor, very unreliable service, frankly,
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  Speaker 1: at this point. We're looking at A 35 percent on
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  Speaker 1: time performance for 2025. So fewer than four in 10
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  Speaker 1: trains are actually getting to their destination at the scheduled time.
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  Speaker 1: It's it really doesn't get much worse than that. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it's hard to imagine below 35 percent, although maybe we'll
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  Speaker 1: see this year. What do you make of that dismal
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  Speaker 1: record and how do you kind of turn it around
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  Speaker 1: knowing that folks who are booking tickets, they're essentially looking
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  Speaker 1: at a guaranteed late arrival at this point?
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  Speaker 4: Well, again, there are some very significant obstacles with respect
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  Speaker 4: to sharing track. The good news with that is, of course,
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  Speaker 4: we have a very busy cargo corridor, and that's also
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  Speaker 4: good for Canadians. But we have some pinch points in
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  Speaker 4: this system that we're going to have to work, that
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  Speaker 4: specifically with CN, VIA and CN are going to have
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  Speaker 4: to sit down and figure out a way to improve
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  Speaker 4: on this problem. But as.
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  Speaker 4: Via has some of those things that are maybe not
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  Speaker 4: as much in its control. It has some things that
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  Speaker 4: are some customer service issues and other issues that I've
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  Speaker 4: been very, very clear about our expectations that they improve
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  Speaker 4: that service.
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  Speaker 1: Are you able to sort of step in here and
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  Speaker 1: force CN to give priority to passenger rail service? Is
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  Speaker 1: that one option that you're considering? Because that would certainly
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  Speaker 1: set the record straight as to which train should move
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  Speaker 1: first through a corridor.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we don't own the tracks. That's the problem.
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  Speaker 3: You regulate them.
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  Speaker 4: CN owns the tracks. So, you know, we'll have to
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  Speaker 4: come up with a negotiated solution. And I've asked both
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  Speaker 4: CN and VIA to explore new avenues of cooperation.
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  Speaker 1: I want to squeeze in a trade question for you
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  Speaker 1: as well, given the trade war we're in right now.
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  Speaker 1: President Trump is threatening to collapse the Canadian economy today.
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  Speaker 1: He's got a new social media post out saying the
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  Speaker 1: prime minister stymied talks with the United States for political reasons,
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  Speaker 1: trying to get one up on the U.S. and benefit
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  Speaker 1: here at home politically. Trump's saying, just watch what I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to do to the Canadian economy. What do you
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  Speaker 1: say to those sort of taunts from the White House?
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  Speaker 4: I say I repeat the words that the prime minister
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  Speaker 4: repeats to us, his MPs and his ministers every day.
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  Speaker 4: focus on your job, control what you can control, help
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  Speaker 4: build the country, help diversify our trade markets. And I,
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  Speaker 4: as transport minister, have a special role in doing that, ports,
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  Speaker 4: rail across the country. So I work very, very hard
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  Speaker 4: every day, JP, with that mandate in mind. How do
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  Speaker 4: we build Canada? How do we bring manufacturing back to Canada?
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  Speaker 4: And you saw a concrete example of that today. And
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  Speaker 4: how do we make sure that Canadian goods conceived in Canada,
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  Speaker 4: grown in Canada, manufactured in Canada, how do they get
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  Speaker 4: to markets all over the world?
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  Speaker 3: But when you see, like, P.
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  Speaker 1: Hegseth, the war secretary, mocking Canadian cadets, humiliating them online,
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  Speaker 1: you're hearing this rhetoric from the president himself right at
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  Speaker 1: the very top. Is it possible to cut a deal
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  Speaker 1: with the Americans right now, given some of the nastiness
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  Speaker 1: that we're seeing from the Trump administration?
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  Speaker 4: Canada approaches trade negotiations very seriously. I think you've seen
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  Speaker 4: that from my colleague Dominic Leblanc. You've certainly seen that
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  Speaker 4: from the Prime Minister. We have some of the best
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  Speaker 4: trade negotiators in the world. And, you know, we stand
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  Speaker 4: ready to negotiate the right deal for Canada. We're not
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  Speaker 4: going to sign any deal. We will sign the right deal.
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  Speaker 4: And meanwhile, we have so much to do. There is
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  Speaker 4: so much opportunity in this country. When I come home
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  Speaker 4: from places like Thunder Bay or La Poquetière today... and
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  Speaker 4: see what we are able to do and build in
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  Speaker 4: this country. It's very inspiring. It's energizing. And so we're
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  Speaker 4: going to continue focusing on that, and we'll let these
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  Speaker 4: other things play out south of the border.
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  Speaker 1: Just finally, you're also the government house leader. Parliament is
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  Speaker 1: set to return in a few weeks. Everyone in Ottawa
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  Speaker 1: is looking forward to it, I'm sure, you.
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  Speaker 3: Most of all.
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  Speaker 1: Is there any plans on the prime minister's part to
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  Speaker 1: shuffle cabinet ahead of that parliament return, given some of
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  Speaker 1: the challenges we're facing? Is it time for some new
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  Speaker 1: blood in cabinet right now?
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  Speaker 4: The Prime Minister talks, I think, pretty often about having
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  Speaker 4: a strong team. And again, it's inspiring to work with
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  Speaker 4: many of the people. You saw Tim Hodgson on here.
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  Speaker 4: Inspiring work today with that major announcement. A very transformative
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  Speaker 4: announcement should not be overlooked in British Columbia, which will
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  Speaker 4: bring electricity and mining opportunities to rural and remote communities.
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  Speaker 4: It's an incredible opportunity. This is a high-performance government. We
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  Speaker 4: all have our marching orders. The Prime Minister has obviously
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  Speaker 4: within his prerogative to deploy people as he thinks best,
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  Speaker 4: and I defer to him on that. But as for
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  Speaker 4: Parliament's return, I can tell you that I can't wait.
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  Speaker 4: We have a lot of stuff, and I want to
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  Speaker 4: put everyone on notice. It's going to be a very
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  Speaker 4: busy year. session of Parliament. And we'll be dealing with
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  Speaker 4: some very, very serious things and look forward to returning.
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  Speaker 4: All right.
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  Speaker 3: Sounds good.
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  Speaker 1: I look forward to it, too. Thank you, Stephen McKinnon,
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  Speaker 1: the Federal Minister of Transport.
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  Speaker 3: Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for coming in.