WHEREAS the Island Corridor Foundation, a not-for-profit society comprising five affected regional districts and First Nations, was established in 2004 to take possession of and to preserve the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company right-of-way for the benefit of Vancouver Island communities, residents and businesses; AND WHEREAS the Island Corridor Foundation envisions the environmental, economic and social benefits of the railway right-of-way to be realized through the development of opportunities in traditional and alternative-use transportation, tourism and recreation; AND WHEREAS the realization of these benefits can only be achieved through both the support of the provincial government in relief from multiple taxation measures and the federal government in receipt of incentive and infrastructure funding for rail improvement projects: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities request that the provincial and federal governments support the Island Corridor Foundations objective to take possession of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company right-of-way; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue to remove provincial tax impediments to the acquisition of the railway right-of-way by waiving the Property Transfer Tax and the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Belt Tax; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the Ministry of Community Services to provide representational and material support in accessing federal railway right-of-way maintenance resources and program initiatives.
Ministry of Finance Government is carefully reviewing the various issues raised by the proposed transfer of the railway corridor to the Island Corridor Foundation, including the application of provincial taxes, and will make a decision, in the public interest, once those issues have been satisfactorily resolved.