The Interplay of Actors surrounding the E&N Rail Corridor on Vancouver Island

"The E&N Railway is a standard gauge railway that runs along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, BC, from Courtenay in the north to Victoria in the south. Historically influential to the island’s development, the railway serves to connect key urban centres and resource communities. Furthermore, the railway was paramount to Vancouver Island’s entry into confederation, making it an important historic asset of resident’s identity. However, the original construction of the railway failed to consider the rights of First Nations along the line and is now considered one of the greatest acts of colonial land theft in Canada’s history. This presents a troublesome perception of the railway as an affront to reconciliation efforts despite its value as a sustainable transportation asset. This debate is further complicated by the fact that the corridor has been almost entirely disused since 2011. The increasing prevalence of the automobile compounded by a lack of political will to fund the corridor resulted in a severely compromised track that is officially expected to cost up to a billion dollars to refurbish (though these figures are highly contested). What’s more, given the corridor’s persistent disuse, First Nations groups along the railway have begun to challenge the railway’s existence on their lands in court. The most recent ruling, reached in September 2021, stipulated that the government prove that the use of the corridor as a railway be deemed in the public interest by March 2023. Defining what is in the public interest however is proving challenging. In the time period of the corridor’s disuse, NGOs and members of the public have raised dissenting voices concerning the future of the corridor, with one vocal group calling for a replacement of the tracks with a rail trail. Although the court ruling implies that this would jeopardize the corridor’s unbroken status, and recent environmental and supply chain crises have led to an increasing recognition of the value of rail, there still remains considerable disagreement visible in the media and public discourse. In addition to interviews and background research undertaken to ascertain the various views on this debate, the value of the railway is contextualized in land use and transportation planning theory. By examining land use and development policy around the Greater Victoria region, the potential of the corridor’s value as commuter, intercity, freight and passenger rail is ascertained, and corroborated by interview findings with Victoria residents and public officials. Results indicate that the corridor has very significant value to Vancouver Island’s land use policy objectives, and many residents favour a return of rail service. A prevailing sentiment of frustration seems apparent, implying that any use would be better than none at all. Yet so long as upper levels of government fail to make definitive commitments to the railway, there seems little chance that such a reinstatement will occur. Previous decisions regarding the Johnson Street Bridge replacement in downtown Victoria reveal that without strong regional or provincial government jurisdiction over transport infrastructure, the continued unbroken future of the corridor remains tenuous. This results in an identified series of policy recommendations and avenues of future research. Key recommendations include strengthening the role of regional and provincial government in transport projects and clearer federal government funding criteria, as well as enhanced reconciliatory concessions made to First Nations. Key future research avenues include studies into the potential for E&N freight operations, strategies to overcome the lack of rail on the Johnson Street Bridge, and considerations of how the railway can best be adapted to the interests of First Nations. Lastly, a reflection on the role of the planner is surmised. The importance of producing multiple planning options for consideration by elected officials is emphasized, but so is the idea that the consequences of these options remain dependent upon our spatial definition of the public we serve. As a final suggestion, a diversity of open-minded views should be encouraged in land use and transportation planning practice to best address the wicked problems such as the E&N railway case study presents."@eng

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