Green Party leader Elizabeth May has called on Parliament to nationalize Canada’s two largest railways, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP), in an effort to ensure sustainable public transportation and efficient goods movement across the country."Nationalization of both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National must be considered," said May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, in a statement. "These railways were originally built with public funds to serve the public good."Blacklock's Reporter said May argued that nationalizing the railways would help support Canadian farmers and restore the railways to their original purpose of serving the public. "The Party’s vision is to return these vital transportation networks to their original purpose, serving the Canadian people."Canadian Pacific has operated privately since its founding, though it benefited from substantial government subsidies in the 19th century. In 1881, Parliament passed the Canadian Pacific Railway Act, granting CP a $25 million subsidy, 25 million acres of free land, and a 20-year monopoly on Prairie rail service. Between 1880 and 1917, Canadian taxpayers contributed the modern equivalent of $1.1 billion toward CP’s transcontinental line.Canadian National, on the other hand, operated as a Crown corporation from its inception in 1919 until its privatization in 1995. Parliament sold CN for $2.16 billion as part of austerity measures championed by then-Finance Minister Paul Martin, who aimed to curb federal deficit spending. CN has since become a profitable private company, reporting net income of $5.6 billion on revenues of $16.8 billion in its last annual report.
