‘Perhaps the rail line will be good for local businesses, but . . .’

Concerning the vote on the potential sale of the County rail corridor to the Highland Rail Group:

Orangeville citizens need to carefully consider what an active rail line running cargo trains loaded with heavy gravel products through their streets, many of which are residential, will mean to them as residents and business owners, and not get too excited when local papers claim “victory” for Orangeville.

They might also consider that it is not a victory for their friends and neighbours, but simply one more link in a chain that brings rural Melancthon and the Headwaters of Dufferin closer to playing host to an unprecedented 2,400-acre, 200-footdeep aggregate mine; a mine which poses a never-ending threat to the source water for over one million Ontario residents.

Perhaps the rail line will be good for local businesses, but I would like to know what written guarantees municipalities have that the privately owned Highland train will even stop; when and how often?

Won’t the Highland Companies’ main focus be to move as much product as quickly as possible through Shelburne and Orangeville to its southern market place and then back to the mine for more?

What contractual agreement has Orangeville Council made for fair freight rates, safety measures, and upkeep?

It is true that a train is more environmentally friendly than the thousands of trucks that will accompany the train en route to market from this mine, but if the true purpose of these trains (and the trucks) is to increase the profits of an American-based hedge fund by irrevocably altering the environmental fabric of a neighbouring municipality by destroying thousands of acres of prime farmland and posing devastating water issues for a huge chunk of Ontario — then how will that help the environment? Just asking.

As far as a scenic trip to Owen Sound goes, packing our kids onto a train loaded down with thousands of tons of heavy rock product is not very appealing.

And what possible future variables are associated with this line that might actually end up costing the taxpayers millions in the long run? Wasn’t that why the local trains were stopped in the first place? Five million dollars, such as Orangeville bargained for, doesn’t seem to go very far these days and it makes one wonder whether the corridor property has been vastly under priced.

I may be disappointed by the judgment that allows Orangeville reps on County Council a vote on this matter of the rail line, but I do not necessarily disagree with it. However, my consensus on this is contingent “not on the colour of their money, but on the content of their character”. That content must include intelligence, a vision for the future, ethics beyond reproach, and above all else, backbone.

Orangeville’s County reps failed to the foresight and vision to consider ALL of the citizens of Dufferin County when they struck this financial agreement with the HRG in the first place. They failed to have the backbone to take the wheel and set the terms; since the Highland Rail Group had an extra $2 million to spend, the deal should have been $7 million, not $5 million, and no strings attached.

Council reps with irreproachable ethics would have made it very clear, that if HRG ever asked them to influence the vote of neighbouring municipalities (who are, after all their County charges and friends) again – the deal was off! But, that didn’t happen.

Marni Walsh

Melancthon