On September 21, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (external link) posted a notice on its website, indicating that the Governor in Council has extended the time limit for a decision on CN’s proposal for a truck-rail hub in Milton up to 90 days. As the Federal Government continues to review the findings and report submitted by the Federal Review Panel, the Halton Municipalities will carry on their advocacy efforts to have the community’s voice and concerns heard regarding CN’s proposal.
“The Halton Municipalities, together with the community and our MPs and MPPs, have voiced strong concerns about this project and the significant adverse effects it will cause to human health and the environment,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “We will continue to work with the federal government to ensure our collective voices are heard as this proposal poses a significant risk to the health and safety of Halton residents. The federal government needs to make the right decision to protect the health and safety of our community by not approving the proposed CN project.”
The Federal Review Panel has determined that this project could have significant adverse effects on human health. The proposed location of the CN project is within one kilometer of approximately 34,000 current and future residents, one hospital, twelve schools and two long-term care homes. The truck-rail hub would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and result in at least 1,600 new trips to and from the facility daily by heavy-duty container trucks.
The significant health and environmental effects caused by this project are unavoidable. The Federal Review Panel concluded that, even after taking feasible mitigation into account, the project would cause significant effects on air quality and human health and cumulative effects on air quality, wildlife habitat and land available for agricultural use.
Concerns remain about the federal enforceability of mitigation conditions proposed by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The vast majority of the over 200 mitigation measures proposed by the Agency fall outside federal jurisdiction and cannot be enforced by federal compliance officers.
For more information about CN’s proposal and the Halton Municipalities’ position on this project, please visit halton.ca/cn.
The Regional Municipality of Halton serves 580,000 residents in the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville. Halton Region is committed to meeting the needs of its residents through the delivery of cost-effective, quality programs and services, including water and wastewater; Regional roads and planning; paramedic services; waste management; public health; social assistance; children’s and seniors’ services; housing services; heritage programs; emergency management and economic development. For more information, call 311 or visit Halton Region’s website at halton.ca.