(supplied)

 

For those of you who are not able to sign hard copies of the CAPT letter to the Prime Minister and Ontario Premier a digital option for sending the letter is now available. The letter is now in the form of a petition that you can fill out and send on-line by clicking on this link:

https://www.change.org/p/justin-trudeau-kathleen-wynne-marc-garneau-carolyn-bennett-catherine-mckenna-terry-sheehan-carol-hughes-steven-del-duca-michael-gravelle-david-zimmer-glen-r-murray-northern-ontario-needs-passenger-trains-too?recruiter=438018678&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

 

Many people have already stopped by the CAPT table at the Station Mall to sign the letter, buy calendars and T-shirts.  Jeff Hinich joined us yesterday and played his banjo and sang the ACR song.  The music really perked us up.  We love that song.  Thank you, Jeff.

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  Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with his picture in the 2015 CAPT calendar

Last week CAPT sent the following letter to the Prime Minister:

 

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

 

Dear Prime Minister:

On behalf of the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains (CAPT) we congratulate you on your recent successful election and appointment as our prime minister.  We are extremely happy that you will be leading our country.  Many of us in the Algoma District who are volunteering non-stop in our efforts to save the Algoma Central Railway passenger train are delighted that you have already traveled on the ACR with your father and brothers. We are sending you a copy of the 2015 calendar that marks the 100th anniversary of the Algoma passenger train.  I have opened it to the month of March which has photos of you on the occasion of your trip on the ACR.

You will be receiving copies of letters CAPT has sent to Minister Marc Garneau as well as many letters in English, French, Ojibwe and Cree that concerned people are sending to you asking not only to restore passenger service on the ACR but also on the existing tracks connecting us to Sudbury, Toronto and Ottawa.  As in the rest of the country Northern Ontario residents urgently need passenger trains to improve our economic sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. Northern Ontario First Nations, municipalities and businesses would all benefit. Rail as a transportation mode stands alone in its ability to combine energy efficiency with economic and environmental benefits. According to environmental journalist James Howard Kunstler, switching to more rail transportation is the fastest way to reduce carbon emissions.  With your passion for slowing down climate change and at the same time building up our economies and providing opportunities for First Nation community and regional economic development, we know that you will be committed to restoring passenger train service on the Northern Ontario rail lines.

Yours truly

Linda Savory Gordon for Dawne Cunningham and Al Errington, Co-Chairs

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