Amid ongoing trade tensions with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday that Ottawa will spend $4.7 billion to build and maintain 313 VIA Rail passenger cars domestically in Canada.
Flanked by ministers and factory workers in Thunder Bay, Carney noted it will be the first time in four decades that the VIA cars will be produced “right here in Canada” — rather than the U.S.
“For the first time in four decades, those cars will be produced and assembled and maintained in our country. Cars that used to be built in the United States will be built right here in Thunder Bay at Alston,” Carney said, adding that amid the U.S. trade war, “Our country is being tested.”
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“Two weeks ago, we made the right decision to suspend our trade negotiations with the United States. We couldn’t accept what they’d offered. We wouldn’t give what they asked. As a result, the U.S. has imposed new tariffs designed to hurt and divide us.”
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“That’s a miscalculation because Canadians will always take care of each other. And it’s a miscalculation because we have everything we need to build the country we want,” Carney added.
Carney said the construction of the fleet, which will be done by Alstom, will directly support 700 jobs in Ontario and Quebec. The prime minister said Alstom will “maximize” the use of Canadian steel in the work.
More to come.
Sure Carney just like those 500,000 new homes you were going to build faster than ever before in Canada or the removal of interprovincial trade barriers or getting a deal with Trump within a month of becoming PM. All talk no action from Carney and the Liberals. Wake up Canada you are being conned.
VIA Rail loses roughly $375 million to $385 million annually from its core operations. As a Canadian federal Crown corporation, VIA Rail relies heavily on government subsidies to stay afloat. It is structurally unprofitable because passenger fares do not generate enough revenue to cover the massive overhead costs of running a nationwide passenger rail system.
…hmmm… kinda sounds like the CBC, no? Carney just keeps throwing good money after bad! Can’t wait for the $90B high speed ALTO rail fiasco to take hold.
@Anonymous Contards are so very predictable…,.so much so that they can turn a positive like this story into a negative without using a single brain cell, lol! Pathetic imbeciles!
In as much as your hatred for ALL NOT lIBERALIZED IS SHOWN EVERY DAMN DAY HERE AS YOU CUT DOWN EVERYONE ELSE. GO F*CK YOURSELF
The workers don’t look overly enthusiastic, especially the guy in the orange to the left of Carney.
Oh that’s right they are Blue Collar workers,the real backbone ,heart ,and strength of Canada.
Robbed blind by taxes,false promises and lackluster performance of the Liberal Party over the last decade.
Now it makes sense.
Why does a single train car cost as much as an F-16 fighter jet? Does anyone who votes liberal see the problem with this, or do you just glaze over it like everything else?
Believe when I see it.
The LPC is notorious for making claims of future grandeur then never following thru or projects result in failure and loss.
It’s all political fluff to keep support and voting up for the Party and the ill informed voter steps up and checks the “L” box unwittingly casting a ballot for “Loss” instead of a functioning government
Contards are so very predictable…,.so much so that they can turn a positive like this story into a negative without using a single brain cell, lol! Pathetic imbeciles!
Some commenters are confused: Conservatives are the bad guys, not Liberals. If you have a problem with Liberals then vote NDP.
That’s great, can we put them on the cpr so we can actually travel again? Since you took Greyhound away there’s no way for poor people to visit our families in other provinces.
Too bad Canadians can’t afford a ticket
15 million a car. Of course built in Ontario and qubek. For a railway that loses money every year… libs are bad at math taxpayer is left paying for said bad math.
Extra Extra, canada wakes up from a coma after 40 years!?
@John Parkinson. Maybe do some research on how much water and train fares cost in Britain after both were privatized. Private isn’t necessarily better.
anything the government ie liberals always costs 5 times as much as having it done by the private sector.
Liberals, I mean the CCP, really hate old Liberals.
Yay more money down the drain
VIA Rail operates at a substantial financial loss and relies heavily on government subsidies to cover its operations
But “ who cares” it’s not the bloated government officials who foot the bill
Will it have large maple leaf stickers that say “Made in Canada” on the outside of the trains.
“Carney said the construction of the fleet, which will be done by Alstom, will directly support 700 jobs in Ontario and Quebec. The prime minister said Alstom will “maximize” the use of Canadian steel in the work.”
Lets hold their feet to the fire and explain what maximize means? Because I feel just like the fairy’s built for BC it will be with Chinese steel.
At least it’s in Thunder Bay.
LOL! Jobs in Quebec? Some idiots didn’t read the article.
As a MAGA traitor, I don’t like this spending money on Canadians thing. We should be building Trump monuments, our living God.
Each train car will cost over 15 million dollars, how many years will it take to get a return, if in fact the price does not go up. A brand-new commercial passenger train car in Europe generally costs between €2 million and €3.5 million (roughly $2.2 million to $3.8 million USD), depending on the specifications, features, and order size. What a joke.
This government is beginning to reek of communism.
This government’s policies are beginning to reek of communism. The government is becoming a direct investor and owner in every Canadian industrial project.
At what cost? Where is all of this money coming from? Manage the budget.
More $$$$ for quebec.
With China’s steel, you liberals are a disgrace to
Our country of Canada!
The ice breakers Quebec will be building is supposed to create 5,000 jobs. It seems all for Quebec or crumbs for the rest of the provinces.
Just great! We are going back in time with trains Let’s hire French company to build 19 century transportation system. Probably horse and buggy is next project for Quebec.
Liberals sure know how to move forward!
Do the math 700 jobs at a cost of 6,5 million per job, makes total sense if your a dummy!! Carney is desperate to try and dill the job losses and this is at the tax payer expense!! Stop this nonsense and create jobs that grow the GDP. Based on this each car total cost is 10 million. Something doesnt add up!
With what money? Taxpayers… This guy Carney is a crook and he will make Canada more bankrupt than it already is.
As a calgarian with no via rail station anywhere closer than Edmonton I oppose this as a waste of my money.
The progressives in this comment section trying to straw man every argument are fun to read. You’re all just as inept as the Democrats to the south of us. We have record inflation, a crippled housing market, record youth engagement with identity politics, etc, etc, etc. Its not JUST Carney, its all of you. You voted for the hell this country is living in.
Wow, Clowanada has finally figured out how to make a steel box with wheels. Super impressive for a low IQ country.
“If” my Math works and I have the correct data each Via Passenger car will cost $10,000,000 and
each locomotive will cost $40,000,000.
I pray that my figures are wrong!!!!
The problem with VIA is not the cars but the reliability of the schedule. We traveled Winnipeg to Edmonton and arrived 16 hours late. No apologies. This was, apparently, routine. Spend the money to fix that.
I don’t know why we elected a banker/ economist to run the country when all the answers are provided by internet trolls everywhere. see the following.
LEARN HOW THE FECK EQUALIZATION PAYMENT WORK YOU SINGLE CELLED MINDED PEOPLE. THIS IS CAPITALISED SO ITS EASIER FOR YOU PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND
Exactly when will this plant be operational to build these cars 5years 10 years or never just like all the houses Carney promised to build. Notice there is never any details given in these announcements
In other news, Carney Liberals invest billions in black and white tv’s, phonograph players, and betamax!
“We couldn’t accept what they’d offered. We wouldn’t give what they asked.”
Can we see what they offered and what they asked for?
Jobs in Ontario and qubek. Rest of the country, send us your equalisation payments…
Good idea, and let’s not stop at train cars. Let’s also step up our ship-building and aeroplane manufacturing! Go Canada!
And yes, Liberal censors, it was Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Liberal government that ended domestic production.
So, 40 years…because of Liberals
we wouldn’t be having this problem if Canada merged with the juggernaut that is USA.
They should never have been made outside Canada in the first place. How many cars are they getting for this money. Do we have enough cars for transporting commodities; oil, gas, wheat, etc. Also what are they going to do to develop food security with storage, processing, marketing and have grocery stores with our products on their shelves. I have yet to see a Canadian politician in a competitive tug of war with 10 American politicians, likely because that scale of competition is patently absurd; but that is what has been peddled to us since Mulroney. I think we need tariffs to develop our own economy and provide employment, opportunity, development and a future for our population
When will you be happy? You demand that the government ring good paying jobs back to Canada! They bring jobs back to Canada You hate it!
Bring Union jobs back to Canada , they bring Union jobs back to Canada, You hate that as well.
Start to build the things we use here in Canada, they announce that we will be building what we use here, you hate that even more! What the hell do you want?
Oh, y’mean the VIA Rail that has accumulated $3.6 billion CAD in total operational losses, since 2015…of course bailed out every by taxpayers. Always fun to watch Carney throw good taxpayer money after bad…lol. Can’t wait to see what Carney’s $90B ALTO High Speed Rail fiasco will really cost!
Now it’s VIA’s turn to make the fares affordable for regular Canadians. Especially now that they will be competing against speed rail.
AWESOME!! About time!
More union reps telling us “Sorry guys and gals, I know we brought you all here for this job, but the upper guys are telling us the budget changed. I hate to be person to say this, and some of you came a long way to be here, and we’ll help you out if we can, but half of you have to go back home. Winter is coming, so there will be layoffs, too.” It never fails.
Yay, more low wage working-class jobs. AI can kiss my backside.
About time. – One does have to be careful of ‘made in Canada’. Made in Canada by foreign owned companies means the minor jobs are here, but the profits go elsewhere. Such as Molsons or Labatts. Made in Canada, and the profits go to US companies.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s government decisions in the early 1980s essentially ended the continuous manufacturing of domestic passenger trains for VIA Rail for decades, forcing the country to rely on foreign imports.
Yippy skippy. More debt for Canada. This is not a solution to our economic malaise Mr. Lenin.
The bill would probably be $2B if it weren’t for the LPC’s industrial carbon, plastic & packaging taxes.
If Unity means I have to bootlick Quebec and Ontario that will never happen
So they will be late and overbudget then like everything else this country does
Carney does nothing for Western Canada.
By a French multinational, not a Canadian firm.
When will these cars actually be built or will it take years to get up and running. Also if we are capable of building these cars why have they been getting built in the USA for the last 40 years.
Empty talk of ‘unity’ is useless; it just masks Carney’s incompetence. If the high tariff issue isn’t resolved, companies will inevitably shut down or relocate to the U.S. over time. This will lead to mass layoffs of Canadian workers, resulting in long-term unemployment. How do you plan to solve the livelihood problems of these unemployed people? Is it enough to just tell them, ‘Canadians must stand united to overcome these difficulties together’? Stop repeating empty slogans with Carney. Quit focusing on holding press conferences to whip up public sentiment, and start finding real solutions. That is what Carney should be doing as Prime Minister.