Milton councillor opposed to continuing fight against CN intermodal hub; colleague disagrees

Halton Region has spent almost $30 million fighting the CN intermodal hub in Milton and one councillor believes it’s time to give up.

Ironically, perhaps, that councillor is from Milton — Ward 2’s Rick Malboeuf.

At last week’s Halton regional council meeting, councillors received an update from Bob Gray, the commissioner of Corporate Service and Corporate Counsel, on the status of the ongoing fight to keep the transportation hub from bordering on Milton’s western residential boundary.

On Oct. 11, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favour of CN and the federal government, allowing the project to proceed.

During the comment period after the update, Malboeuf confirmed the fight has cost taxpayers from Milton, Oakville, Burlington and Halton Hills $29.6 million to fight the project. And that doesn’t include staff time or the possibility CN or the feds might come after the region to recoup legal fees.

Rhetorically, Malboeuf asked what the Region has received in return for the $29.6 million and if they’re in a better position now concerning this terminal than we were six years ago.

“For six years I’ve been telling this council we could not win this fight win CN and that challenging this project through the courts would be a complete waste of staff time and hard-to-come-by tax dollars,” Malboeuf read from a prepared statement.

“But my concerns were ignored and position rejected, even to the point where my integrity and commitment to my constituents were brought into question.

“Well, here we are six years and nearly $30 million later, exactly where I predicted we would be. I’ve always stated we could not stop this intermodal terminal from going in and these latest court rulings confirm what I’ve been saying all along.

“But what I really find frustrating is how that $30 million could have been better spent. It could have been used to improve services in our long-term care facilities, make improvements to our community housing projects, improve our land ambulance service and make upgrades to our infrastructure. Hell, we might even have been able to find the $1M needed to provide sewer and wastewater services to the much-needed development projects in Milton.”

Fellow Milton councillor Sameera Ali, who’s among those leading the fight against the project, was sitting directly beside Malboeuf during his comments and spoke with INhalton.com following the meeting.

She’s of the opinion the battle should continue to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“Any opportunity to stop this project benefits our community’s health and allows us to keep taxes low. So yes, any chance we have to reverse the ridiculous approval decision by this Federal Liberal government must be explored to the fullest extent.”

She said the last battle would likely cost around $500,000.

“It is not secret that if the CN project does proceed, over a 20-year period the town and region will lose out on over $200 million in tax revenues. Furthermore, Supreme Court appeals typically cost a fraction of the prior legal expenses.”

Malboeuf, however, remained steadfast in his opposition.

“There are so many ways that money could have been better spent than simply lining the pockets of lawyers and consultants.”

He said that, in the past, he’s supported the legal battles in the name of council solidarity.

“But no more. Enough is enough and I will not support any recommendation to continue fighting this project in the courts and continue wasting anymore tax dollars fighting a fight we can’t win.”