VIA Rail Canada… Blowing the Mission

...and pissing off one person at a time!
Feb 26 2004Montreal – The following statement was released today by Mr. Jean Pelletier, Chairman of VIA Rail Canada: "During a media interview yesterday, I made certain comments concerning Ms. Myriam Bédard that I now realize were inappropriate. I regret making those comments and want to apologize sincerely to Ms. Bédard for any embarrassment or hurt I may have caused her."
Those comments were followed by this press release:Montreal - The following statement was issued today by VIA Rail Canada: "While it is not VIA Rail Canada's policy to comment publicly on personnel-related issues, we believe it is necessary to respond to statements attributed in media reports today to Ms. Myriam Bédard. It is not correct that Ms. Bédard was asked to leave VIA. Ms. Bédard was hired by VIA's marketing department in January 2001, but it soon became clear that the working relationship did not suit her needs and she resigned voluntarily from the corporation to pursue a career as an independent consultant on January 18, 2002.'' Today:
Montreal - The following statement has been issued by Paul Côté, interim President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail Canada: "We acknowledge the decision by the Government of Canada to remove Jean Pelletier from his position as VIA's Chairman. "VIA Rail Canada would like to offer its sincerest apologies to Ms. Myriam Bédard for the comments about her that were reported in the press last week. We regret the pain that these comments have caused Ms. Bédard, her daughter, her family and friends. We would also like to extend our apologies to all Canadian women for the nature and tone of these remarks. "This morning, I have advised the Honourable Tony Valeri, Minister of Transport, that I have launched a review of Ms. Bédard's allegations and will report to him in the shortest possible time on the findings of that review. The review will look into Ms. Bédard's comments regarding her tenure at VIA Rail and will also examine her concerns regarding VIA's relationship with advertising agencies." - 30 - VIA Rail Canada
Public Affairs
(514) 871-6215
Atta blow the mission boys! Ms. Bédard was the prime whistleblower in the "Sponsorship scandal." Hee hee...this is actually kind of funny and dissapointing all at once...

Mile 0.0 CN Bedford Sub
Location:
44 29.6 N
063 30.3 W
Reminiscing VIA LRC's in their Glory Days.

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RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, cn_bayview, Mar-01-04, 08:41 PM, (1) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, John 136 6000 GO, Mar-01-04, 08:53 PM, (2) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, smallspy, Mar-01-04, 09:59 PM, (3) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, davereage, Mar-01-04, 10:45 PM, (4) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, imprezzed, Mar-02-04, 03:46 AM, (5) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, sd70mac666, Mar-02-04, 04:52 PM, (6) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, goonybird, Mar-17-04, 04:12 PM, (19) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, sd70mac666, Mar-17-04, 04:44 PM, (20) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, John 136 6000 GO, Mar-02-04, 04:53 PM, (7) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, NW_611, Mar-02-04, 05:10 PM, (8) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, cn_bayview, Mar-02-04, 08:15 PM, (9) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, davereage, Mar-02-04, 11:17 PM, (10) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, cn_bayview, Mar-02-04, 11:37 PM, (11) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, sd70mac666, Mar-03-04, 05:30 AM, (12) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, imprezzed, Mar-03-04, 07:04 AM, (13) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, John 136 6000 GO, Mar-03-04, 11:23 AM, (14) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, smallspy, Mar-03-04, 07:49 PM, (18) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, davereage, Mar-03-04, 12:29 PM, (15) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, davereage, Mar-03-04, 12:53 PM, (16) RE: VIA Rail Canada...Blowing the Mission, cn_bayview, Mar-03-04, 03:41 PM, (17)

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Man o man.Well, now that the president of VIA was fired- Maybe we'll get someone like David Gunn in there... Bah- doubt it. Paul Martin dislikes VIA... Probably give all money to his bus company.. Or maybe his shipping company?

Rob

TH&B Van #68
www.greatlakesrail.com

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imprezzed's post didn't quote the actual offensive comments M. Pelletier made regarding Ms. Myriam Bédard. I won't quote them here, since there's no point in doing so and I don't have the exact quote in front of me. They were sexist and demeaning.I, for one, approve of the the action taken to remove M. Pelletier from his position. He was, in any case, a political appointment, not an appointment of a Railway person.John

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I have to agree with you on this one John.What was said was an embarassment to Canadians in general. Unbelievable that someone is his position could possibly say such a thing, and in public no less. Totally out of line, and his firing was totally due.However, it was pretty obvious that Martin was looking for a way to get rid of the higher-ups at VIA to replace with his own lackies....and Pelletier gave him the perfect excuse to can his sorry ass....it appears that Martin has succeeded.As much as I'd like to think that common sense will prevail, with the Liberals in government, I really don't know what to think.DanAbsolute power corrupts absolutely.

www.greatlakesrail.com

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The interim chairman of VIA is the current COO of VIA (his name escapes me). He has been involved in passenger rail since the 70's when he started with CN and has worked his way up.Although the chance is probably small, maybe he'll be left as Chairman of VIA and we'll actually have someone in there that knows trains, not some politically appointed dimwit.Dave Reage - Beta Tester
Halifax, Canada

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It'll be interesting to see how it goes, anyway, especially in this time and age of politics where it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Mile 0.0 CN Bedford Sub
Location:
44 29.6 N
063 30.3 W
Reminiscing VIA LRC's in their Glory Days.

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-02-04 AT 04:53 PM (EST)

I don't live in Canada anymore but was born and raised and lived for 21 years in Toronto. My dad gave me the gist of it though. Told me something about the entire organization that's technically unprintable. He said they are (no wait I can't say that but it has to do with something dirty). He did say they suck and throw rocks at airplanes. There's a word missing there. But I just want to see how this one turns out.Sexist and degrading? I think that Mr. Peltier should have had more than his sorry ass canned. Sue the bastard for libel and slander too. Paul Martin once owned a Canadian bus line according to my old man. He did make it a point to tell me he's heavily opposed to spending on VIA Rail. he's the chairman of some sort of land corporation or something. It's with the Crown. Up until now I never knew that GO Transit was part of the provincial Crown portfolio until now. Goes to show how much I know.
Dr. SatanI'm otherwise known as the SatanTrain

High on the booze
fade to blue
nine inch howl brave tonight
chopper coming in you hope
Orange Crush: R.E.M.

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>Up until now I never knew that GO Transit was part of the
>provincial Crown portfolio until now. "GO" stood for Government of Ontario. My understanding is that that provincial government there sold GO Transit to the private sector at least a few years ago.The service on VIA Rail sucks. This character defamation committed by the crown corporation's leader is simply in line with anything (and I do mean anything) that you or I would come to expect upon experiencing just five minutes' worth of journeying through the Québec City-Windsor corridor of VIA's. The worst part is that the Canadian (interestingly, candiens couldn't care less!) passengers -- as opposed to the canadien ones who genuinely seem pre-occupied with their lives, interestingly enough -- will interfere/interrupt me during my few run-ins with crappy VIA train crews (will saxons ever learn to tend to be less nosey??!).Sadly, I harbour resentment toward its management, happily not toward its service staff. If VIA management were to honestly immerse themselves into their mandate, their reward would be a well-founded morale whole-heartedly experienced by at least most of its train crews.Cheers,
goonybirdhttp://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/4804/ a fictitious network serving London, Weymouth, and points in between

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>>Up until now I never knew that GO Transit was part of the
>>provincial Crown portfolio until now.
>
>"GO" stood for Government of Ontario. My understanding is
>that that provincial government there sold GO Transit to the
>private sector at least a few years ago. I knew that but I live in the northern US now so I don't keep up on stuff like this. but I do know GO Transit was folded back into the provinces' portfolio in 2001.
>
>The service on VIA Rail sucks. I haven't ridden VIA Rail since 1984 when I was a wee lad (I'll be turning 26 Easter Sunday). That was for my dad to take me to Montreal on the sleek then new LRC Trains. This character defamation
>committed by the crown corporation's leader is simply in
>line with anything (and I do mean anything)
>that you or I would come to expect upon experiencing just
>five minutes' worth of journeying through the Québec
>City-Windsor corridor of VIA's. The worst part is that the
>Canadian (interestingly, candiens couldn't care less!)
>passengers -- as opposed to the canadien ones who genuinely
>seem pre-occupied with their lives, interestingly enough --
>will interfere/interrupt me during my few run-ins with
>crappy VIA train crews (will saxons ever learn to tend to be
>less nosey??!). You know what? I've narrowed it down to 2 things.1. Not enough coffee
2. not enough sex. It's either one or the other.
>
>Sadly, I harbour resentment toward its management, happily
>not toward its service staff. I heard about that. My cousin takes the train to see his girlfriend and he relates to me the service staff are #1, but management sucks. I told him something that's unprintable but I said management has it all wrong. Personally I'm pro rail (I'm a school bus driver, I can drive full sized school buses and transit vehicles), but I want ot know how long this crap can drag out for. If VIA management were to
>honestly immerse themselves into their mandate, their reward
>would be a well-founded morale whole-heartedly experienced
>by at least most of its train crews. Most if not all. David Gunn seems to know what he's doing (and for those flamers) Or does he?
>
>Cheers,
>goonybird
>
>http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Bayou/4804/ a
>fictitious network serving London, Weymouth, and points in
>between
Dr. SatanI'm otherwise known as the SatanTrain

High on the booze
fade to blue
nine inch howl brave tonight
chopper coming in you hope
Orange Crush: R.E.M.

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>As much as I'd like to think that common sense will prevail, with the Liberals in government, I really don't know what to think.
We'll just have to wait and see. With the general shift to the right in our politics, the Liberal party is liberal in name only - more like the old Progressive Conservatives, while with the old Progressive Conservative Party being taken over by the Alliance (formerly mis-named Reform Party), we don't reall have a truly liberal political party any more. The New Democratic Party isn't really a liberal party - they are what in Europe would be called a Social Democrat party.Let's just hope that we do get someone with a railway background, or at least a transportation background, not just another political appointment.CheersJohn

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The brief mention of the deal between Harper and MacKay that I saw led me to believe that they merged their respective parties. Was that not the case? Kinda funny reading about a PC merger that might have been a takeover---shades of Alfred E. Perlman!

____________________________________________________________________
Norfolk & Western’s Radford Division, Pulaski District: Who needs the Marias Pass?

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Yep they merged the parties.
But again its an East vs West thing.
the PC out west and the liberals in the east.The Bloc and NDP have no chance at all (as usual-no offence)But I think it would be nice if we got a government who cared about VIA Rail.

Rob

TH&B Van #68
www.greatlakesrail.com

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LAST EDITED ON Mar-02-04 AT 11:20 PM (EST)

Unfortunately we won't get a government that cares about VIA Rail until we get a leader that cares about VIA Rail, and that person is NOT Paul Martin. He made that perfectly clear when he kicked David Collenette (who was very pro rail) from the Transport Minister's position and replaced him with another guy, I think his name is Valeri or something. This guy is also very anti-rail, how surprising. The Liberals will definetly NOT get my vote.I hope this scandal brings Martin down in flames, although him and his party will probably weasel out of it.Dave Reage - Beta Tester
Halifax, Canada

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They always do Dave.I wonder why people keep re-electing these goons.We really need a fair government in there. Rail IS the answer to highway congestion. Just nobody supports it or promotes that. I'm not sure what the Conservatives have in mind for VIA... But hopefully it is good.I'm sure if Paul has his way- There won't be a VIA Rail. Its a load of BS to have ministers like or dislike rail. They represent US and they're personnal preference's should not ruin funding and what not for VIA
But what can we do...

Rob

TH&B Van #68
www.greatlakesrail.com

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Yes all well and good.
But what about the former PC government in Ontario.
Christ they managed to piss everyone off, and they were in office for 10 years.
Dr. SatanI'm otherwise known as the SatanTrain

High on the booze
fade to blue
nine inch howl brave tonight
chopper coming in you hope
Orange Crush: R.E.M.

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>Yes all well and good.
>But what about the former PC government in Ontario.
>Christ they managed to piss everyone off, and they were in
>office for 10 years. The thing was, they DID manage to piss off pretty much everyone, but:
#1. They DID get the job done,
#2. They WERE the lesser of two evils (IE Mr. Miguinty)Now that Ontario's staggering debt is kind of under control, it's time for a change.BTW: I believe GO on GO Transit stands for either Greater Ontario or Government of Ontario...

Mile 0.0 CN Bedford Sub
Location:
44 29.6 N
063 30.3 W
Reminiscing VIA LRC's in their Glory Days.

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"BTW: I believe GO on GO Transit stands for either Greater Ontario or Government of Ontario... "When GO-Transit was originally started, by the Government of Ontario (a Progressive Conservative government at that - back when the word "Progressive" in their name actually meant something), the "GO" part of GO-Transit did indeed stand for Government of Ontario.Since the last conservative governernment (the "Harris Mob" could by no stretch of the immagination be called "Progressive") downloaded responsibility for the GO system to the local municipalities but didn't give them the tools needed to perform their new responsibilities (like most of the other downloading the Haris Mob did), we don't really know what "GO" stands for.John

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The "GO" once again stands for Government of Ontario.One of the last things Mike Harris did before leaving office was taking back control of GO Transit, and disbanding the useless-in-its-legislated-existance Greater Toronto Services Board.This happened in September of 2001, IIRC.Oh, and to be fair, it's not like the federal Liberals haven't been downloading costs onto the provinces either...healthcare anyone?DanAbsolute power corrupts absolutely.

www.greatlakesrail.com

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>I wonder why people keep re-electing these goons. I think the mentality is: "the Liberals are going to win anyway, so I may as well have a Liberal MP, maybe they'll give us stuff".>We really need a fair government in there. Rail IS the
>answer to highway congestion. Just nobody supports it or
>promotes that. Couldn't agree more. I've done a fair amount of work on behalf of Transport 2000 Canada (Atlantic Division) on this topic. However, it's tough to get politicians to listen to reason, even when what I'm preaching is backed up by stats and facts.>I'm not sure what the Conservatives have in mind for VIA...
>But hopefully it is good. Not so sure I trust them either, too many far-right former Alliance members there. Hell, the Alliance even had a "VIA Rail Critic"!>I'm sure if Paul has his way- There won't be a VIA Rail. I wonder if he has the power to do that. Rumour has it that VIA is going to go through big funding cuts next year (and they've already had their capital spending cut, remember that $600+ million funding announcement Collenette made just before the PM left office?)Where are they going to cut from?

Dave Reage - Beta Tester
Halifax, Canada

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As an addendum: apparently when PM Paul Martin made the announcement about Pelltier's firing, he made a Freudian(?) slip in saying that Pelltier had been fired from "VIA Rot er ah VIA Rail".You be the judge, you'll need real audio or quickplayer:http://www.cbc.ca/MRL/clips/ram-lo/lawand_sponsorship0403011.ramhttp://www.cbc.ca/MRL/clips/mov/lawand_sponsorship0403011.movDave Reage - Beta Tester
Halifax, Canada

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Jeez. We should start a VIA rail party... Hey the got the marijuana party after all Chretien was good for one thing... Laughs!
Martin doesn't have the power to abbolish via. BUT if he puts it to vote in the house, and people back him you never know.They may try to privatize it like CN. But who knows.What VIA really needs is some railroaders, people who know what it's like out on the line, what neds to be done and how to do it.
Not our rag tag- If your the PM's friend you can have the job.That VIA Rot thing was a hint. Maybe this guy can't speak english... Chretien Jr!

Rob

TH&B Van #68
www.greatlakesrail.com

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