High Speed Rail

Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Edmonton-Calgary
corridor is one of the wealthiest regions in the world, and we need
to set up a transportation system that provides for long-term
sustainable growth for this region. What is the Minister of Transportation’s
position on the role of high-speed rail as a central part of
sustainable future development of this region?
Mr. Ouellette: Well, Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to see the hon. member
is actually concerned about the great corridor that we have, and we
want to be able to transport people safely in that corridor. I do
believe that at some point in time we will see some sort of highspeed
rail or a connection along that corridor. Today we’ve been
analyzing a study that we just had done on ridership. I think we will
probably be ready to release that at some time in the future, and I do
believe that someday we will see a high-speed rail connection.
The Deputy Speaker: The hon. member.
Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we should be planning
for the high-speed train now, when the time is right. We should lay
the foundation stone for that high-speed rail. To the minister again.
We have heard from groups interested in high-speed rail who have
pointed out that such a link would significantly reduce greenhouse
gas emissions as well as accidents and congestion by taking cars off
the QE II highway. Does the minister agree with this? If so, what
steps has he taken in that direction?
Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, we haven’t finished completely
analyzing the review yet, but I’m going to give him a little tidbit out
of it. There was one part of that review that did say that if we had
a high-speed rail network, in the length of time it would take us to
acquire the right-of-way and the length of time it would take us to
build, we would not reduce the number of cars on the road because
of the type of growth we’ve had in Alberta. We would still have the
same types of emissions and congestion because of our growth.
The Deputy Speaker: The hon. member.
Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister received a report
over a year ago on the high-speed rail. When will the minister
finally release this report and let Albertans know what the government
is going to do about it?
Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, sometime in the future for sure we will
release that report. We’re analyzing right now.