1995 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
MS. JAN PULLINGER
WHEREAS British Columbians, as a condition of entering confederation, paid for, with a land grant of approximately one quarter of Vancouver Island, in return for the federal-provincial agreement of 1883 to make, construct, complete, equip, maintain and work continuously a line of railway from Esquimalt to Nanaimo; and
WHEREAS the agreement further ensured that once the railway was built, that it would be maintained in good and efficient running order; and
WHEREAS the contractor under the federal-provincial of 1883,Canadian Pacific Railway, has failed to meet its obligations under the federal-provincial agreement;
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 In this Act:
"contractor" means the corporate entity that holds the assets and responsibilities originally given to the Dunsmuir Syndicate under the provincial-federal agreement of 1883. Currently, the contractor is Canadian Pacific Railway.
2 The lands defined in Schedule 1, hereinafter referred to as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway right-of-way and the capital structures contained within it is hereby preserved and protected from encroachment and uses that impede the use of the right-of-way for transportation.
3 Where a person has reasonable grounds for believing that the contractor of the railway has contravened Section 2, a complaint may be made to the Minister who shall forthwith issue a cease and desist order to the contractor pending resolution of the complaint.
4 The process by which the investigation is conducted and the complaint adjudicated and remedied shall be by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
5 This Act comes into force on the date Royal Assent is given.
SCHEDULE 1
The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway right-of-way shall be defined as: the Esquimalt and Nanaimo railway bed and easement, which shall normally be fifty feet to either side, from Victoria Mile Post 0.0to Courtney Mile Post 139.7 and Parksville Mile Post 0.0 to Port Alberni Mile Post 37.9, together with such railway workings, premises, and facilities as formed part of the railway's operations whatsoever on June 21, 1995.
This Act protects the Esquimalt to Nanaimo Railway right-of-way and the capital structures contained within it from development that would compromise future transportation opportunities. The Act also provides communities that would be adversely affected by development within the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway right-of-way with a process to halt unlawful development.
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