2010 Election: Doucet on high-speed rail

Over the course of the 2010 Mayoral Election campaign, Public Transit in Ottawa will be sitting down with as many mayoral candidates as are available, discussing their platforms and thoughts on transit in this city, and what they hope to achieve during their mandate, if elected mayor.

High-speed rail is something that's come up periodically on this website, but it's been fairly quiet in the mayoral campaign this year. Perhaps that's because implementing it would probably have to be pushed by federal and provincial governments primarily, but there's no doubt that a supportive mayor would go a long way in getting something done--and mayoral candidate Clive Doucet is certainly supportive of putting Ottawa on a high-speed rail corridor.

I will work with Mayor [Richard] Lalonde, the mayor of Quebec City, and the mayors of Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto to make high-speed rail between our cities a reality. I won’t run away from that obligation the way the present mayor did.

In his platform notes, Doucet noted that he wanted to "put Ottawa 'on the map' for business people and travelers", and that he feels high-speed rail would offer a more environmentally-friendly way to do so.