[hipster duck]

VIA is a lost cause and should be dismantled.

Each province should run passenger rail; in some places they actually have teeth. Metrolinx has been buying up lines and making more improvements to the rail network around the GTA than VIA ever could. They’re starting to horn into VIA’s turf now with service to KW and Niagara Falls. Let them take over all Ontario services. Let the Quebec government take over the Quebec City-Montreal service. I’m sure they could get the CDPQi to invest in the project and actually make it decent. The Canadian and Atlantic can become private tourist trains. The Churchill, White River and Seneterre trains can be run by their respective provinces or the Ministry of Northern Affairs.

VIA just can’t run a railroad. I know that they’re subordinate to the interests of the private freight companies that own the tracks, but other organizations that were former pariahs have found the leadership and the strategy to stop being such punching bags.

Canada is a decentralized federation of highly independent provinces, and the provinces already have complete control over the highway networks, so I think control over passenger rail should be a natural fit.

Other bonus: now Albertans can decide if they want to run their own Edmonton-Calgary service and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia can decide if they want to run a Halifax-Moncton service without feeling alienated by a Federal agency that essentially only “serves” Ontario and Quebec.