We are taking immediate action to address the serious concerns of Halton residents with respect to the proposed CN truck-rail hub in Milton. To do this, the Halton Municipalities and Conservation Halton resumed the 2018 legal case in the Ontario court to demand that CN comply with our laws that protect your health and the environment.
We cannot spare any effort to let this CN proposal proceed when its emission of toxic substances make it the first project ever subject to a federal review panel that was found likely to cause significant adverse effects on human health that cannot be mitigated. If this intermodal proceeds it will cause serious harm across a pyramid of recognized health effects that include premature deaths to the more than 34,000 people who will reside within 1km of the site. Nothing provided by the panel provides any basis to reduce unequivocal community opposition to this proposal’s significant harm to human health.
This CN proposal is also bad economics for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. It delivers one-tenth the jobs the Province required and approved in the Regional Official Plan. The Regional Official Plan Amendment 38 (ROPA 38) was developed after an eight-year approval process and extensive consultation. CN requested that its lands be included in ROPA 38 for a different use that promised intense employment and investment. After Halton Region and the Province approved CN’s request, CN reneged on its proposal and claimed exemption from ROPA 38.
I’d like to thank local MPPs and MPs for their support on this issue, in particular Milton MPP Parm Gill and Milton MP Adam van Koeverden, who have made it clear that they stand with Halton Region and Halton residents on this issue.
I encourage all residents to contact their MP, MPP, and the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change as well as the Provincial Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks to let them know your concerns over this CN proposal and the federal decisions that fail to address their duty to protect the health of Halton residents.
To learn more about CN’s truck-rail hub and the steps we’re taking to protect our community, please visit
halton.ca/CN.