Ever since Wilbur and Orville Wright proved that heavier than air machines could indeed fly, safety has been the first priority when it comes to air travel. Engines and chassis are inspected and re-inspected. It only makes sense that if some gizmo in your car engine...
Greyhound Canada stunned many in Western Canada with a surprise, summer announcement that it’s pulling its buses out of all four Western provinces. The July 9 statement blames an aging population, urban migration and competition from ultra low-cost airlines like Swoop...
The Sunday Times (London) reports that it has obtained a secret Cabinet report indicating that “The HS2 high-speed rail project is “highly likely” to go as much as 60% over budget and cost “more than £80 billion.” HS2 refers to the high speed rail project intended to...
Western Canadian bus riders got an early Halloween scare. As from October 31, 2018, Greyhound passengers won’t travel west of Ontario. For the company, it means 415 fewer employees and two million fewer passenger rides each year. For bus riders in remote areas, a...
At the time of Confederation, Canada’s Plains Indians were in a desperate situation. The same European-introduced guns and horses that resulted in a briefly glorious golden age for them had also resulted in constant inter-tribal warfare and the rapid disappearance of...
Political attacks on the Indian Act are back in the news, and that is a good thing. However, Canadian politicians, including First Nation politicians, need a credible plan about what to do before we pull out the champagne. Attacking the Indian Act is not a big deal...
According to Auditor-General Michael Ferguson’s recently released Fall Report, “significant weaknesses” continue at Transport Canada. These weaknesses have been flagged for some time, dating back a dozen years to when the federal government adopted a new rail safety...
Rapid transit is a long standing topic of debate in Winnipeg. In the last municipal election, Mayor Sam Katz pledged his support for light rail transit (LRT), while runner up Judy Wasylycia-Leis supported bus rapid transit (BRT). Three years later, we have 3.6km of...
Executive Summary Since 2008, the United States has been developing important policy relating to risk in the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. The dialogue has not been restricted to the conventional corporate participants—the chemical producers and...
Since 2008, important policy debate has been developing in the United States on risk in the transportation of dangerous goods. The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) bankruptcy protection following the Lac-Mégantic disaster last summer provides an opportune...
Many air travelers are understandably annoyed when they get bumped from a flight because the airline has overbooked. But it has become a necessary way of life, and it actually reduces the cost of flying for everyone. Air Canada and other airlines offer refundable...
A recent CBC radio report focused on the woes of an overbooked airline traveller. Missing was an analysis of the airline perspective. Overbooking is not, as consumer advocate Gabor Lukacs claims, a “deceptive practice.” Ralph Nader used the same language in his...
Mary-Jane Bennett shows why Thomas Mulcair is wrong to link the July rail disaster at Lac-Mégantic to “years of government deregulation” and why a return to over-regulation of rail in Canada would be a serious mistake.
The rail tragedy at Lac Mégantic, Québec, has opened a debate about the safety of railway in urban areas. Some argue a safety measure would be the relocation of rail lines away from urban areas. Those against this option make economic arguments about community sustainability and the high costs of relocation.
Portage & Main is one of Winnipeg’s most prominent intersections, but because it undermines local retail and residential development by dissuading pedestrians. Opening it up to pedestrians is a necessary condition for any successful neighbourhood revitalization scheme.