{"id":169174,"date":"2018-07-03T22:55:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T02:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=169174"},"modified":"2018-07-03T22:55:40","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T02:55:40","slug":"not-going-to-make-it-hopes-dashed-as-talks-break-down-over-churchill-rail-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/07\/03\/not-going-to-make-it-hopes-dashed-as-talks-break-down-over-churchill-rail-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Not going to make it:’ Hopes dashed as talks break down over Churchill rail sale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hudson<\/a>
Hudson Bay Railway said talks broke down on Tuesday after months of negotiation to transfer ownership of the crippled rail line \u2014 the community’s sole land link \u2014 to a consortium of northern communities.(Photo By TeVe – map source is Image:Canada (geolocalisation).svg by STyx, where northern Manitoba map was cropped. Railway lines were added based on the map at http:\/\/www.omnitrax.com, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CHURCHILL, Man. \u2014 Residents of Churchill are devastated after learning efforts to restore rail service to the northern Manitoba town have fallen apart.<\/p>\n

Hudson Bay Railway said talks broke down on Tuesday after months of negotiation to transfer ownership of the crippled rail line \u2014 the community’s sole land link \u2014 to a consortium of northern communities.<\/p>\n

The railway, owned by Denver-based Omnitrax, would only say a sale to the consortium may no longer be possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite our best efforts to find common ground on certain key issues, it now appears that this transaction has fallen apart,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cThis outcome is unexpected and very unfortunate. We offer our apologies to all those who depend on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was cold comfort for Rhoda de Meulles, who owns the local hardware store with her husband and can’t afford to keep flying in supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to make it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis town can’t do it,\u201d Dale de Meulles added.<\/p>\n

The rail line was damaged by severe flooding more than a year ago and Omnitrax has said it cannot afford the repairs. Since then, goods and people have had to be flown into the subarctic community at much higher cost.<\/p>\n

Federal regulators ruled last month that the Hudson Bay Railway has a legal obligation to fix and maintain the line, although the company has said it will appeal the decision.<\/p>\n

Christian Sinclair, chief of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and co-chair of the One North consortium negotiating to take ownership of the rail line, said he was completely surprised by Hudson Bay Railway’s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were caught by surprise and we are still working together as a consortium to get a deal done here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence and Sinclair later put out a brief statement saying the \u201cbuying group is united.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain at the table and we fully support the efforts to conclude a reasonable deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, who was in Churchill on Tuesday, declined an interview request, but his office issued a statement saying Canada will find a solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis situation has had significant impacts to the town of Churchill and the communities along the line,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Repairs to the railway must start within two weeks if they are to be completed before winter, the de Meulles said. Without the rail, they will have to order a year’s worth of supplies to be brought in by a cargo ship from Quebec.<\/p>\n

It has meant costs for packaging and shipping are completely unsustainable, they said. But locking the door for good, will be the very last option.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur life is Churchill,\u201d Dale de Meulles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo us, it’s one day at a time and that’s how we operate now, one day at a time,\u201d his wife said. \u201cWe see what happens from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHURCHILL, Man. \u2014 Residents of Churchill are devastated after learning efforts to restore rail service to the northern Manitoba town …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":169175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[52651,52652,23388],"class_list":["post-169174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","tag-churchill-rail-sale","tag-hudson-bay-railway","tag-omnitrax","mauthors-kelly-geraldine-malone","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}