{"id":244682,"date":"2020-02-12T00:38:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T05:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=244682"},"modified":"2020-02-12T00:40:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T05:40:04","slug":"cn-says-parts-of-network-will-close-if-blockades-remain-via-cancels-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/02\/12\/cn-says-parts-of-network-will-close-if-blockades-remain-via-cancels-service\/","title":{"rendered":"CN says parts of network will close if blockades remain, Via cancels service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Via Rail train leaving Sainte Foy, Quebec (Photo by Harfang\/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 Canada’s\u00a0rail\u00a0system was under stress Tuesday as Via\u00a0Rail\u00a0cancelled passenger service on key routes and Canadian National Railway Co. warned it will be forced to close \u201csignificant\u201d parts of its freight network unless blockades impeding its lines are removed.<\/p>\n

Via\u00a0Rail\u00a0cancelled service on its Montreal-Toronto and Toronto-Ottawa routes because of a blockade near Belleville, Ont., in support of opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project that crosses the traditional territory of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in northwestern B.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we remain hopeful that a resolution will be reached, in view of the current uncertainty, VIA\u00a0Rail\u00a0is cancelling all departures until Thursday end of day on the Montreal-Toronto and Toronto-Ottawa routes, in both directions,\u201d Via spokeswoman Marie-Anna Murat said in an email.<\/p>\n

A blockade near New Hazelton, B.C., means normal\u00a0rail\u00a0activities are also being interrupted between Prince Rupert and Prince George, she said.<\/p>\n

Via\u00a0Rail’s announcement followed the warning from\u00a0CN, which has halted more than 150 freight trains since Thursday evening, when demonstrators set up the blockades in B.C. and Ontario.<\/p>\n

The Montreal-based railway said Monday that long-distance freight shipments in Central and Eastern Canada were already at a virtual standstill.<\/p>\n

Chief executive JJ Ruest stressed the limited parking space in its network, with traffic backed up from Halifax to Windsor, Ont., and in parts of B.C. approaching Prince Rupert.<\/p>\n

\u201cCN\u00a0will have no choice but to temporarily discontinue service in key corridors unless the blockades come to an end,\u201d he said in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact is also being felt beyond Canada’s borders and is harming the country’s reputation as a stable and viable supply chain partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ongoing blockades are near Belleville, Ont., and New Hazleton in B.C.’s northern interior, while demonstrations cropped up Tuesday in locations ranging from the Halifax port to the B.C. legislature.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce called on all levels of government and police to work together to bring an immediate end to the blockades and to restore all\u00a0rail\u00a0service.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom propane to grain and food and consumer items, Canada’s supply chains are being severely damaged by the continuing interruptions to Canada’s\u00a0rail\u00a0services by protesters,\u201d the chamber said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0rail\u00a0system affects the entire Canadian economy and Canadians everywhere, including people trying to get to and from work. They must be allowed to continue to serve the thousands of businesses that depend on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry groups expressed concern about the shutdown as shipments to and from the U.S. and China are delayed or cancelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a real crisis,\u201d said Joel Neuheimer, head of international trade with the Forest Products Association of Canada.<\/p>\n

Wood, pulp and paper producers have lost tens of millions of dollars so far, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ship massive amounts of pulp to the United States and to places like Asia, so big negative impacts there,\u201d Neuheimer said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have members whose customers aren’t placing orders right now in the U.S. because they know that it’s not going to get there as soon as it needs to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olin Corp., a Missouri-based chemical maker with a facility near Trois-Rivieres, Que., cautioned Ottawa that its tight distribution schedule means the 50-odd Canadian companies it serves will soon stop receiving chlorine \u2014 used in part to treat drinking water \u2014 which it says is only shipped by\u00a0rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cOlin is alarmed by the current freight\u00a0rail\u00a0situation in Canada, and we are concerned that customers and municipalities will not receive shipments of vital chemicals including chlorine within one week,\u201d chairman and CEO John Fischer said in a letter to federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association, whose members typically load about 4,500\u00a0rail\u00a0cars a day, is urging government officials to work with police to restore service on the tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Canada there’s not really other alternatives to move stuff around. The highways and trucks \u2014 especially in Quebec and southern Ontario \u2014 are already at a very, very high utilization of available capacity,\u201d association president Dennis Darby said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

Stakeholders from chemical companies to Dannon Yogurt called this week to raise concerns, he said. \u201cThey can’t get their stuff out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garneau said he is working with the railways and his Ontario counterpart Caroline Mulroney to find a solution, and that blockage of tracks is \u201cdangerous and illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the countrywide impact, he underscored that responsibility for enforcing court injunctions against the anti-pipeline protesters lies with provincial politicians and police.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we hope it’s going to be resolved, but it is up to the provinces to make those injunctions effective by taking action,\u201d Garneau told reporters in Calgary. \u201cIt’s having an important impact on the economy of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, Via\u00a0Rail\u00a0said 157 passenger trains have also been cancelled, affecting 24,500 travellers on its Montreal-Toronto, Ottawa-Toronto and Kingston-Toronto routes.<\/p>\n

Ontario Provincial Police said officers are in talks with protesters behind a blockade that sits metres from the tracks, though not across them.<\/p>\n

OPP spokesman Bill Dickson said an officer of the court read an injunction to the protesters Tuesday morning ordering them to abandon the blockade, which bisects Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, about 20 kilometres east of Belleville.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0CN\u00a0obtained the injunction on Friday, Tuesday marked the first time it was read aloud in accordance with court procedure, Dickson said.<\/p>\n

Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Chief R. Donald Maracle expressed solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en community in northwestern B.C. and called out actions by the RCMP, which has been enforcing a court injunction on the First Nation’s traditional territory and arresting those attempting to block access to the pipeline route.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on both federal and provincial governments to demand the RCMP immediately reconsider how it addresses peaceful protests and demonstrations, and allow the opportunity for sound discussion with a common sense approach to achieve peaceful outcomes,\u201d Maracle said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Brendan Marshall, head of economic and northern affairs at the Mining Association of Canada, said buyers of natural resource products were as vulnerable as producers \u2014 some of whom are already curtailing production.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re a facility that’s reliant on\u00a0rail\u00a0service in order to get your product to a site, then it’s kind of like sand through the hourglass \u2014 when it runs out, the plant can’t work anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This report by the Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Michelle McQuigge<\/p>\n

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MONTREAL \u2014 Canada’s\u00a0rail\u00a0system was under stress Tuesday as Via\u00a0Rail\u00a0cancelled passenger service on key routes and Canadian National Railway Co. warned …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":244683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244682","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\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244685,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244682\/revisions\/244685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}