The federal Liberals have adopted a plan for a Maritime Railway Corridor into their official party policy that would link Saint John to Halifax with a passenger rail service.
Moncton-Dieppe member, Francisc Giboi, proposed the idea at a policy convention earlier this month and it was passed as a non-binding resolution.
Such resolutions set out party policy but are not binding on the governing party.
“This proposal is about making a more connected Maritime region and really introducing a basic service that people without a vehicle can use,” said Giboi.
His plan proposed starting a regional rail service between Saint John and Halifax, which would eventually expand to Sydney, N.S., Fredericton and Prince Edward Island.
Giboi was inspired by his upbringing in Romania, where he and his family would take the train across the country.
When they moved to Canada, he said that all changed.
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“My family lost that. We had to take a car. Being a new immigrant family, we didn’t really have the means to buy multiple cars, so it made everything very difficult for us,” he said.
Lori Turnbull, a political analyst and Dalhousie University professor, said although the vote is not binding on the Liberal government, the resolution is interesting — especially in the Maritimes, where there are smaller populations.
But she added it will take more than political consensus to get the project on the tracks.
“Political will alone is not going to be enough, even if it was there. It’s going to require a partnership from a private investor or a set of investors,” she said.
A spokesperson from Nova Scotia’s Public Works Department said the provincial government is encouraged to see the interest and would be open to exploring opportunities to coordinate and collaborate.
When asked about the idea, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt, who is currently in Ottawa in meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney, said she’d “love to learn more about that.”
Meanwhile, Giboi said he spoke to the federal transport minister, who raised concerns about who would actually operate the railway corridor.
Giboi said he believes a Crown corporation should be at the helm.
“Just because we don’t have it now doesn’t mean we aren’t missing a basic service,” he said.
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