Friendly, Believable, Informative, Positive
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Saskatchewan is a big community full of potential just like Canada itself. It was built with rail service, vibrant immigration and partnerships with the indigenous population reflecting on our resources and accomplishments, it's easy to see the role that all Saskatchewan communities have in our mutual success. The cities of Saskatoon and Regina have become the healthcare, education, business and employment centers of the province with both the opportunity and the responsibility to support a larger rural population beyond their borders. That population has limited access to all that Saskatchewan offers. With 22% of our people already struggling with mobility issues. This means major difficulties getting people where they need to go. This rural dilemma is a defining issue. How can we ensure a better quality of life for people now and in the future? Decades ago, passenger rail service was discontinued in Saskatchewan, resulting in abandoned assets and a heavy environmental and financial cost. Today we believe that bringing back a reliable reactivated railway network is the key to keeping our future on track. After all, our quality of life comes down to the way we connect to each other And renewing these connections will bring this infrastructure into the 21st century Saskatoon has always been a provincial service hub. It's the start of the provincial supply chain and a distribution center that serves the entire population. It's centrally located. It's the heart of the province and the prairies themselves and this dynamic and friendly city also has the critical mass needed to support future growth downtown. There are specialized health and medical services, educational institutions, government, financial services, entertainment, sports events, shopping and access to city transit. But to continue growing this core requires improved accessibility, especially for an aging rural population and the communities they represent, demographic trends show that those communities are losing services and amenities. So a true solution must focus on providing a safe, comfortable and accessible way for outlying communities to connect to the hub where those services are. This simple idea is the primary goal of keeping Saskatchewan on track. It's time to move forward and it all starts in downtown Saskatoon. In the past, this downtown area was built and defined by the railway, not only the lines and platforms, but the companies that invested in hotels and transit of freight and passengers. That's why our current and proposed traffic focal point starts here. It's a place where you have access to everything. The city has to offer essential services are found here serving not only Saskatoon, but much of the province. Existing railway tracks in and out of the downtown core, which can easily be reused, make this an attractive hub. It's economical, relatively simple and completely viable. With a low startup investment. Railway service can reconnect to existing rail lines that once served the downtown core. These lines make a low cost early entry proposal possible, not just for Saskatoon, but for many outlying communities that have retained their railway infrastructure. Trains would come from those communities and converge downtown where passengers can then reach or transit to essential services unavailable in their hometowns. We know that in the early years after confederation, Canada grew thanks to the new East West National Railway, a route that is heavily utilized and essential to this day, it still unites Canada from coast to coast today. We want to do the same in Saskatchewan with a predominantly north south railway corridor. Ultimately, this proposal will help overcome the urban rural disparity, access to goods and services will be more equitable to all communities connected to the north south railway spine. The complementary function of the rail network will benefit the rural population, the economy and the role of an inclusive downtown core. We envision rail service from Saskatoon to Prince Albert as an ideal low cost starter route routes in eight compass directions can follow after that. In addition to reusing existing rail lines, least engines and passenger cars would be used during implementation to reduce the amount of initial capital investment required, these cars would be equipped with amenities like accessible seating, washrooms and wIFi, truly a modern, comfortable and safe passenger rail service. To do this, replacing two small sections of track in Saskatoon is the only requirement to close the loop of the existing rail infrastructure. After that, there is full accessibility from downtown to local regional and national rail services, including via rail. The initial funding strategy and closure of the loop would best be done under the leadership of the city with support from the provincial and federal governments, in cooperation with CNN CP Rail Government support would attract private investors to fund and operate the new passenger rail service, creating a cohesive complement to existing modes of travel and a realistic P three opportunity. The initial implementation phase of a reactivated provincial rail service is a low cost entry proposal. As such. It offers limited expansion capacity at the existing CPR station downtown, but there is little doubt that this proposal is a major infrastructure program that embraces modern rail service. Just like many other successful Canadian metro centers. Imagine the full scale tens of thousands of commuters and visitors would not be reliant on their personal vehicles. They would enjoy a comfortable, safe and stress free means of transportation throughout the year. They would have better access to medical education, employment and professional services not available in their home communities. Moving forward with this initiative is the hallmark of a successful community that doesn't just have potential but is living up to it. Downtown Saskatoon is where it can all begin. And we can say with certainty where trains go. Big things follow