The absurdity isn't in paying for the essential trains but in not being willing to pay for trains in more populated areas. A train serving as the only non-flight access to an isolated community is essential, but so are trains serving places with good roads. The problem is when people and governments consider only the former as worthy of government expenditure.
I'm not a Canadian, but if I was, I would want the same out of that federal government as I want out of the U.S. one (and IMHO have started to get): more public money for passenger rail generally, and official recognition that passenger service is not expected to be profitable but to bring economic benefits to communities, regions, and the nation well in excess of what the government spends on it.
Also, there are major cities other than on the Corridor. Outside of Covid, a daily Canadian doesn't sound like overkill. I would argue that (again, outside of Covid) a daily train each on the old CP and CN transcontinental lines isn't outlandish.