TAA mourns the passing of president emeritus John Pearce

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John Pearce, May 7, 1934 – June 6, 2019

 

Transport Action Atlantic mourns the passing of its president emeritus. John Pearce was a tireless crusader for the cause of convenient, affordable and sustainable public transportation.

At age 85, John passed away peacefully in Dartmouth on June 6, 2019. He was born in Toronto to the late Perezel and Helen (Munro) Pearce. John obtained his Masters in Math and Physics at the University of Toronto on his path to becoming a Meteorologist. His career in which he served with distinction for many years would lead him to Nova Scotia. There he met his wife of 47 years at a Sports Car Club meeting.

John joined Transport 2000 Atlantic in the mid 1970s, served for many years as its president, and remained an active volunteer and board member as the organization rebranded itself as Transport Action Atlantic. His primary focus was always passenger rail, and until only a couple of years ago he could be frequently found in the Halifax VIA station, promoting the cause and chatting with passers-by and railway employees. His influence and contributions to the cause have been recognized by an annual award that TAA named in his honour.

The United Church was also a focus of John’s life and he was a fixture in the congregation and choir of St. Matthew’s for many decades. John is survived by sister, Judith (John); wife, Karen; sons, Ian (Maria) and Lorne (Laura); grandchildren, Stella and Owen.

Visitation will be held on Monday, June 10th from 2-4pm & 6-8pm in A. L. Mattatall Funeral Home, Dartmouth. Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, June 11th at 11am in St. Matthew’s United Church, Halifax. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Parkinson’s Society of Canada.

TAA Treasurer Don MacLeod presents the inaugural John Pearce Award, for outstanding public transportation advocacy, to John Pearce on November 18, 2017.

TAA’s 2019 AGM is this Saturday!

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Transport Action Atlantic’s annual general meeting is happening this Saturday in Halifax!

Saturday May 11 – 2:00pm

Halifax North Memorial Library Auditorium

2285 Gottingen St.

Halifax, NS

We are delighted to announce that the AGM agenda will include a panel discussion on current transportation issues in the region, featuring Bridgewater mayor David Mitchell, Maritime Bus president Mike Cassidy, and 2018 John Pearce Award winner Stan Choptiany. This promises to be an interesting and engaging discussion – you won’t want to miss it!

As always, the agenda will also include annual reports and financial statements, appointment of an auditor, election of a board of directors, and any other business that may arise.

Further, we will be presenting the third annual John Pearce Award recognizing outstanding public transportation advocacy.

And finally, we are also pleased to welcome noted railway photographer and author Bill Linley, who will be signing copies of his new book “Trackside Newfoundland”. This will be a great opportunity to meet and chat with Bill, as well as to pick up a copy of his book if you haven’t already. http://www.billlinley.com/products-page/books/trackside-newfoundland/

As always, our AGM is open to the general public and the media. Invite your friends!

We hope to see many of you there!

 

Minutes of 2018 AGM

The minutes of last year’s AGM are now available for review. These minutes will be tabled at this year’s AGM on Saturday, so please come prepared with any corrections or additions that you may be aware of, as appropriate.

The minutes can be found on the documents section of our website: https://transportactionatlantic.ca/documents/

Advocates have questions on National Railway Day

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Transport Action Atlantic is asking why it is taking so long for VIA Rail and the Government of Canada to deliver on an outstanding promise to improve frequency of passenger rail services in the Maritimes. Today is National Railway Day – the anniversary of the last spike ceremony that marked completion of Canada’s continuous rail link from coast to coast on November 7, 1885.

“It’s a very appropriate occasion to pose this question,” says Ted Bartlett, president of the regional public transportation advocacy group, “and not just because it’s a date that was so important in the development of Canada’s nationhood. It was three years ago this week that VIA’s CEO unveiled a plan to reintroduce regional service within Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, using the same type of rail diesel cars (RDCs) that had been discontinued in January 1990 as part of sweeping cuts mandated by the Mulroney Government. His timeline called for the routes between Moncton and Halifax and Moncton and Campbellton to be operational by late summer or early fall of 2016.

“That goal, unfortunately, was not met. Neither were several other target dates subsequently offered. We’re still waiting, and VIA management is no longer even suggesting possible start dates. Furthermore, we understand that there will be no additional frequency or capacity offered during the holiday travel season this year, something that had become standard practice in recent years to augment the very limited schedule normally offered in this region.” Continue reading “Advocates have questions on National Railway Day” →