Niagara Falls Liberal Candidate First To Respond To Region’s Call For Full Go Train Service In Niagara

(A Foreword by Niagara At large publisher Doug Draper –  Niagara, Ontario’s regional chair, Garry Burroughs of Niagara’s 12 local municipalities appealed to all three candidates running in the Niagara Falls Riding by-election – NDP candidate Wayne Gates, Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco and PC candidate Bart Maves – to support their call for full GO train transit services in Niagara. 

The first out of the gate to respond to this call was Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco. NAL will post the call to candidates from regional leaders followed by Morocco’s response below. If the other candidates respond at some later hour or date, we will post those as well.) 

GO Trains on the By-election Track – Niagara’s heads of council appeal to candidates for support of important initiative

Niagara Region – January 31, 2014 — Niagara’s 13 heads of council want to know where the Niagara Falls by-election candidates stand on expanding GO Train service to Niagara.

Niagara Falls Riding Liberal candidate Joyce Morocco is first out of gate t embrace Niagara Region’s call for full Go Train service in region

A letter signed by the mayors of Niagara’s 12 municipalities and Regional Chair was sent to Niagara Falls by-election candidates Bart Maves (Progressive Conservative), Joyce Morocco (Liberal), Wayne Gates (New Democratic Party) and Clarke Bitter (Green) today, appealing to them for their public support to expand daily commuter GO Train service to Niagara.

“This is an important issue for the region, and voters deserve to know where each of the parties stand on an important economic development and lifestyle issue for Niagara,” said Regional Chair Gary Burroughs. “We need to ensure we have the political will at all levels in Niagara to support the unanimous resolution from Regional Council to bring daily commuter GO Trains to Niagara Falls, with stops in Grimsby and St. Catharines.”

Communities around the Greater Toronto Area — including Waterloo, Barrie and Peterborough — have seen the economic and social benefits that follow the expansion of GO rail lines. Bringing a GO Transit commuter rail option to Niagara will:

• Generate economic renewal around the transit hubs

• Expand Niagara’s employment radius

• Help preserve a lifestyle that makes Niagara special

• Reduce congestion on the QEW corridor

• Provide a new and vital link to markets in the United States

• Support smart urban planning

“Niagara is a vital economic gateway for the province of Ontario, and improving its connections to the Greater Toronto Area is an important election issue,” says Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. “We need to know which political leaders are willing to work with us to deliver GO Trains to Niagara.”

Re: Unanimous support for daily commuter GO Trains in Niagara

Dear Regional Chair, Mayors; Friday, January 31^st, 2014

Thank you for your letter regarding GO Train service in Niagara. As I know all of you are well aware, I have been incredibly vocal calling for extended transit to the region in both my current and past roles. As a local business owner and Niagara Falls city councillor, I know firsthand what the economic and social benefits of better transit are here in the region.

Daily rail service to Niagara makes complete sense. It is important for jobs, for tourism, and for the economic development in the area. What we need now is a strong voice at the table with Premier Wynne to continue our efforts for expanded GO Train service to our region. I am that strong voice, one that you can count on. 

We all know that Tim Hudak and the Ontario PCs would cancel province-wide transit plans to pay for Toronto subways if they were in government. Their plan would pit region against region in order to pay for their expensive subway expansion plan. This is not the type of leadership we need in the province.

I’m disappointed in Andrea Horwath and Wayne Gates, who have absolutely no plan for transportation or infrastructure in the province. They would raise taxes on businesses, putting the economic gains we’ve made since the recession at risk. They need to come clean; voters deserve to know where they stand. 

As a mother and grandmother, I believe families should spend more time together, and less time on the road.  The Ontario Liberal plan has already taken a step in the right direction. We have introduced seasonal GO Train service, invested almost $700 million for highways, public transit, and bridges in the region, and even invested over $50 million for widening the QEW to expand trade and shipment of goods with the United States.

However, I want to be able to take the GO Train from Queen’s Park to Niagara, and I will make sure I carry that message with me.

I was pleased to have MPP Glen Murray, Minister of Transportation, here in Niagara Falls earlier this week. I was able to reiterate my views on daily GO Train service, and continue our discussion, one that I’ve been fighting for as a councillor. 

As for timelines, I understand that there are a few milestones we’ll need to hit first, but no roadblock is bigger than Tim Hudak and his destructive transit policies. 

De-railing the progress we’ve made in Ontario so far is what Tim Hudak wants to do, and we cannot let that happen. 

Only a Liberal government will expand transit in Ontario like we are expanding hospitals in Niagara Region. That’s why I am running for this party, and running to ensure we get the transit service we need to create more local jobs, attract investment from the U.S., have less congested roads, and create a diverse business climate.

I would be happy to have a meeting with all of you to discuss this further in the coming days.

Best,  Joyce Morocco, Ontario Liberal Candidate

(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post. A reminder that we only post comments by individuals who share their first and last name with them.)