The Saanich youth council has endorsed the ‘Reconciliation Corridor Initiative,’ which would call on higher levels of government to support working collaboratively with First Nations to explore the future of passenger rail on the Island Corridor.
This Indigenous-led initiative was signed in late 2025 between the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations and local governments in Greater Victoria to explore the potential for passenger rail service on the Island Corridor.
The corridor could help people travel between Vic West and Westshore Parkway in Langford.
Upon endorsing the initiative, the youth council sent letters to federal and provincial lawmakers for support.
Furthermore, the youth council is preparing a motion to bring to a future Saanich council meeting, asking the municipality to endorse the principles of the Reconciliation Corridor Initiative.
If passed, this motion would specifically call on the mayor to write to decision-makers with the federal government, the Province and the mayors of all Capital Regional District (CRD) municipalities to express Saanich’s support for the endeavour.
“It’s a whole new way to travel around the region,” said Yul Choe, Grade 11 student at Mount Douglas Secondary and Saanich youth council representative.
“It’s exciting to think that I could take a train to Langford to visit friends and participate in extracurriculars. Trains are a sustainable way of moving a large number of people around the region.”
Currently, the youth council’s endorsement does not include a predetermined rail project, route, technology or final funding decision. Instead, it is an endorsement of the process currently underway.
The Island Corridor stretches 289 kilometres from Victoria to Courtenay and from Parksville to Port Alberni; however, the endorsed initiative only deals with the stretch of rail from Langford to Vic West.
Even though the portion of the corridor included in the Reconciliation Corridor Initiative does not travel directly through Saanich, the youth council believes that transportation, housing, climate action, economic development and reconciliation are regional issues that involve all Saanich residents.
“This is not only about transportation; it is also about reconciliation and doing planning differently,” said Clare Macleod, a Grade 10 student at Claremont Secondary School and Saanich youth council representative.
“The history of the Island Corridor is rooted in the alienation of unceded First Nations lands. We must ensure its future use is defined by meaningful collaboration and partnership, moving past that history toward a shared future.”
The youth council is also seeking to meet with Saanich’s new council following the 2026 local election to brief them on the work being done on the corridor.
Councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff has offered to bring the matter before council in the near future.
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