by Cape Breton Regional Council is holding an emergency meeting this morning on the impending shutdown of the railway on the Island.
Parent company Genesee and Wyoming confirmed earlier this month that it plans to abandon the line from just outside Port Hawkesbury to Sydney because it’s unprofitable.
Regional Mayor Cecil Clarke says the line is a key piece of infrastructure for local business, and is crucial for developing the port of Sydney.
He adds the purpose of today’s meeting is to hold a non-partisan discussion to address the shutdown and its economic fallout.
Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan will speak at today’s meeting as well as provincial bureaucrats from D-|O-T and the Department of Economic and Rural Development.
Denis Lanoe with Kopol International will speak on behalf of Cape Breton users of the line.
The Island’s two Liberal MP’s, Rodger Cuzner and Mark Eyking have also been invited to today’s meeting.
It gets underway at 9:30 this morning in Council Chambers in Sydney.