Canadian National Railway

:CN redirects here, as it's the most common usage of the abbreviation in Canada; for more uses, see CN (disambiguation).

Criticism of CNR

Regardless of the political and economic importance of railway transportation in Canada; there were many critics of the Canadian government's policies in maintaining CNR as a Crown corporation from its inception in 1918 until its privatization in 1995. Some of the most scathing criticism came from the railway industry itself, namely the commercially successful Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) which argued that its taxes should not be used to fund a competitor. Some argue that the CPR could afford to make this criticism, having been itself the child of government and recipient of untold wealth by virtue of land and resource grants, as well as its position as a monopoly from its completion in 1885 until the CNoR started operations on the Prairies at the turn of the century.

Related Topics:
Crown corporation - 1918 - Privatization - 1995 - Canadian Pacific Railway - Monopoly - 1885

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As a result of history and geography, CPR served larger population centres in the southern prairies, while the CNR's merged system served as a de-facto government colonization railway to serve remote and undeveloped regions of Western Canada, northern Ontario and Quebec, and the economically-depressed Maritimes. The company also became a convenient instrument of federal government policy from the operation of ferries in Atlantic Canada, to assuming the operation of the narrow-gauge Newfoundland Railway following that province's entry into Confederation, and the partnership with CPR in purchasing and operating the Northern Alberta Railway. A company-driven decision to create a radio network across Canada for its passenger train customers led to the federal government assuming total control in 1932, naming the radio network the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, which was then renamed and organized into a separate Crown corporation in 1936 as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Related Topics:
Prairies - Western Canada - Ontario - Quebec - Maritimes - Atlantic Canada - Newfoundland Railway - Confederation - Northern Alberta Railway - 1932 - Crown corporation - 1936 - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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