To the Editor,
It is very encouraging to read the coverage being given to the Island Rail Corridor.
Reader Les Andersen (Island rail corridor must be preserved, Letters, May 14) is concerned about ‘the imminent demise of rail service on the E&N’, while reporter Jenn McGarrigle writes the Island rail system well worth saving, Reporter’s Viewpoint, May 17.
Fortunately for us all, the E&N railway system is not in danger of being dismantled for at least two major reasons.
First and foremost, there is an in perpetuity contract signed by the Crown (Queen Victoria) and coal miner (Robert Dunsmuir) at the end of the 19th century, whereby, in exchange for the rights to the sub-surface minerals five miles either side of the railway right-of-way, Dunsmuir, in return, contracted to run a passenger service once a day, every day the full length of the railway, in perpetuity.
The mineral part of the contract is reflected in the footnote at the bottom of each ownership title.
Conclusion? Any attempt to break the railway contract may result in a total return of the land to the Crown.
The second reason for the contract being secure is that the Vancouver Island municipalities wisely decided to collaborate and to place it in collective community ownership – the Island Corridor Foundation – for the common good. As the Romans used to say: “Salus populi suprima est lex” – the welfare of the people is supreme.
David J. Weston
Nanaimo