Correspondence: E&N Reconciliation Corridor Initiative

ISLAND CORRIDOR FOUNDATION

Box 375 Stn A Nanaimo, BC V9R 5L3 office 250 754 7254 islandrail.ca

TO: CRD Board Mayors and Council:

• City of Colwood
• City of Langford
• City of Victoria
• District of Central Saanich
• District of Highlands
• District of Oak Bay
• District of Metchosin
• District of North Saanich
• District of Saanich
• District of Sooke
• Township of Esquimalt
• Town of Sidney
• Town of View Royal

CC: Directors, Southern Gulf Islands and Juan de Fuca Electoral Areas

Dear CRD Board Directors, Mayors and Councils,

We are writing to encourage your Board and Council to formally include the E&N Reconciliation Corridor Initiative as a strategic priority for the upcoming term.

This initiative represents a rare alignment of reconciliation, transportation, and long-term regional planning. It is grounded not only in mobility needs along the Island Corridor, but in a meaningful partnership opportunity with First Nations, including the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, whose interests, rights, and history are directly tied to the corridor. Advancing this work is not simply a transportation decision; it is a demonstration of how local governments can move from acknowledgement to action on reconciliation.

The timing is particularly important. With a municipal election this fall, there is a natural risk that momentum built to date could be lost or diluted through transition. At the same time, there has already been significant investment—financial, political, and relational—by local governments, the CRD, the Province, and First Nations partners. Allowing the initiative to fall off priority lists now would undermine that investment and signal uncertainty at a moment when consistency and commitment are required.

From a transportation perspective, the pressures facing the West Shore and the broader region are not easing. Congestion along the Trans-Canada Highway and through key corridors such as the Colwood Crawl continues to affect economic productivity, climate goals, and quality of life. The E&N corridor remains one of the few continuous, publicly held transportation assets capable of supporting a step-change in how people move through the region. Preserving its advancement as a strategic priority ensures that viable transportation alternatives remain actively under development rather than deferred indefinitely.

Equally important is the need for continuity in governance. Strategic priority designation provides direction to staff, signals intent to partners, and ensures that inter-municipal collaboration can proceed with clarity. Without that signal, the initiative risks becoming episodic, dependent on individual champions rather than embedded commitment.

This is not a request to predetermine the final form of rail on the corridor. Rather, it is a request to maintain the initiative as a priority so that the work—technical, financial, and relational—can continue in a deliberate and coordinated manner. The decisions ahead will require careful analysis, but they also require sustained attention.

For these reasons, we encourage your Board and Council to include the E&N Reconciliation Rail Initiative in your strategic priorities for the next term, ensuring that the progress made to date is not lost and that the region continues to advance a project that carries both practical and generational significance.

Sincerely,

Sid Tobias MSM, CD, MA Director, ICF Board

Barb Desjardins Co-Chair, ICF Board