Editing Via Rail (section)

===2000s===
[[File:VIA 66 with 901.JPG|thumb|right|Via Rail [[P42DC]] pulling [[LRC (train)|LRC]] coaches towards Montreal]]
On October 24, 2003, federal Minister of Transport David Collenette announced $700 million in new funding over the next five years. This funding was below the $3 billion needed to implement a high-speed rail proposal in the [[Quebec City-Windsor Corridor]] nicknamed [[ViaFast]]; however, the funding was intended to "provide for faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger service across Canada... [preserving] the option for higher speed rail, such as the Via Fast proposal," said Collenette. This new project was to be called "Renaissance II".<ref>{{cite news |title=Via upgrades to cost $700 million |url=http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/24/train031024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040605025751/http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/24/train031024 |archive-date=June 5, 2004}}</ref>

On December 18, 2003, Liberal [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] (PM) [[Paul Martin]] froze federal spending on all major capital projects, including Via's five-year $700&nbsp;million "Renaissance II" program announced just six weeks earlier by outgoing PM Chrétien's administration. Critics of Martin's cuts claimed that he was in a conflict of interest as his family through [[Canada Steamship Lines]] and various subsidiary and affiliated companies had once had a significant investment in the [[Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines]], an intercity bus line in Quebec and eastern Ontario that was a key competitor of Via.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Routes cut under the Martin government included the seasonal ''[[Bras d'Or (passenger train)|Bras d'Or]]'' tourist train, which ran for the last time in September 2004, and the Montreal-Toronto overnight ''[[Enterprise (Via Rail train)|Enterprise]]'', which was discontinued in September 2005. The Sarnia-Chicago ''[[International Limited (passenger train)|International]]'' was also discontinued in April 2004 by Amtrak. Via's portion of the route from Toronto-Sarnia remained in operation as Via was able to use their own equipment to operate the train.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

====Sponsorship scandal====
{{See also|Sponsorship scandal}}
The federal [[Auditor General of Canada|Auditor General]]'s report released on February 10, 2004, showed what appeared to be a criminal misdirection of government funds intended for advertising to key Quebec-based supporters of the [[Liberal Party of Canada]]. Included in the Auditor General's report was the fact that Via was used as one of several federal government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations to funnel these illicit funds. Forced to act on the Auditor General's report due to its political implications, Martin's government suspended Via President [[Marc LeFrançois]] on February 24, 2004, giving him an ultimatum of several days to defend himself against allegations in the report or face further disciplinary action.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

Several days later during LeFrançois's suspension, former Via marketing department employee [[Myriam Bédard]] claimed she had been fired several years earlier when she questioned company billing practices in dealing with advertising companies. (According to [[CBC News]], an arbitrator's report later concluded that Bédard had voluntarily left Via.) She was publicly belittled by Via CEO [[Jean Pelletier]] in national media on February 27, 2004. Pelletier retracted his statements but on March 1, Pelletier was fired. By March 5, after failing to defend himself adequately against the allegations in the Auditor General's report, LeFrançois was fired as well.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

====Increasing problems and reinstated funding====
[[File:Qualicum Beach Station 3.jpg|thumb|left|Via RDCs at [[Qualicum Beach station]], a stop on [[Victoria–Courtenay train]]. The Victoria–Courtenay service was suspended in March 2010.]]
The reversal of funding in 2003 led to a backlog of deferred maintenance and left Via unable to replace or refurbish life-expired locomotives and rolling stock. Conversely, Via ridership increased from 3.8&nbsp;million in 2005 to 4.1&nbsp;million in 2006.<ref name="VIAMoney2007">{{cite news |title=Via gets hundreds of millions in federal funding |publisher=[[CBC News|CBC]] |date=October 11, 2007 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/via-gets-hundreds-of-millions-in-federal-funding-1.676328 |access-date=October 11, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012231440/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/10/11/via-money.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref> On October 11, 2007, Finance Minister [[Jim Flaherty]] announced federal government funding of $691.9&nbsp;million over five years (of which $519&nbsp;million was for capital projects and the remainder additional operating funding). The capital funding was earmarked to refurbish Via's fleet of 54 [[EMD F40PH|F40PH-2]] locomotives to meet new emissions standards and extend their service lives by 15–20 years, refurbish the interiors of LRC coaches, reduce track capacity bottlenecks and speed restrictions in the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor, and make repairs to a number of stations across the network.<ref>{{cite web |title=Backgrounder: New Funding For Via Rail Canada |publisher=Via Rail |date=October 11, 2007 |url=http://www.viarail.ca/investmentprogram/pdf/en_plan_financement.pdf |access-date=October 23, 2007 |archive-date=October 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025065420/http://www.viarail.ca/investmentprogram/pdf/en_plan_financement.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

This announcement was similar in content to the previous "Renaissance II" package, and once again was criticized for not including new equipment or funding for services outside the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor. Shortly afterwards, documents obtained by [[the Canadian Press]] under the ''[[Access to Information Act]]'' revealed that delays due to equipment failures had risen by 60 percent since the previous year. The company attributed this to problems with the aging F40 locomotive fleet.<ref>{{cite news |title=Via train late? You're not alone |publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=October 20, 2007 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071020.wvialate1020/BNStory/National/home |access-date=October 23, 2007 |location=Toronto |first=Dean |last=Beeby |archive-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314071554/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071020.wvialate1020/BNStory/National/home |url-status=live }}</ref>

On January 27, 2009, the Government of Canada's 2009 Economic Action Plan increased funding to Via by $407 million to support improvements, including increased train frequencies and enhanced on-time performance and speed, particularly in the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto corridor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada's Economic Action Plan |publisher=Department of Finance of Canada |date=January 27, 2009 |url=http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/plan/bpc3d-eng.html |access-date=December 28, 2011 |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307083600/http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/plan/bpc3d-eng.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 21, 2009, Via began cancelling all trains in anticipation of an engineers' strike, which officially began at midnight on July 24. Engineers had been without a contract since December 31, 2006.{{update inline|date=March 2020}} Full service resumed on July 27.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.viarail.ca/en/update |title=Update: Strike Action—Via Rail Canada cancels all services effective immediately |publisher=Via Rail Canada Inc.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725082035/http://www.viarail.ca/en/update |archive-date=July 25, 2009}}</ref> An additional strike by the [[Canadian Auto Workers]] (CAW) union, representing around 2,200 employees, was planned to begin on July 4, 2010, but was called off after the union and Via reached a three-year contract.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=23693 |title=Via Rail, CAW reach tentative agreement to avoid strike |publisher=Progressive Railroading |date=June 28, 2010 |access-date=June 29, 2010}}</ref>