On September 9, 2022, the Halton Municipalities and Conservation Halton (the “Halton Municipalities”) filed an appeal of the August 10, 2022 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in a case between the Halton Municipalities and CN related to CN’s proposed truck-rail hub in Milton.
The Court rejected CN’s claim that as a federally regulated rail project, it was exempt from all provincial and local laws designed to protect people and the environment from adverse and harmful impacts that would be caused by the facility. The Court decision, however, left it to the Halton Municipalities and Conservation Halton to take the necessary steps to enforce the more than 65 local and provincial laws that apply to this proposed hub instead of supporting a more comprehensive and effective approach through Ontario’s planning system.
The Halton Municipalities and Conservation Halton strongly disagree with this decision and are bringing this appeal forward to seek to correct - what they claim are - "several key errors, including fundamental mistakes about Ontario’s land use planning system that should concern all municipalities and the Province."
The Halton Municipalities are also challenging decisions by the Canadian Transportation Agency, the Federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, and Cabinet to approve federal aspects of the CN Project.
These Federal Court cases challenge federal approval of CN proceeding with the truck-rail hub in Milton based on expert findings that the hub will cause significant harm to air quality and human health that cannot be mitigated for the 34,000 residents who will ultimately live within one kilometer of the proposed hub.
The Halton Municipalities claims that since the CN proposal was announced, their communities have unequivocally opposed it on the grounds of protecting human health.