Canada Seeks Talks to End Rail Blockades
February 14 2020 - 6:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA -- The Canadian government said Friday it would pursue
negotiations to end the blockades that have thwarted rail traffic
across the country for more than a week, even as the country's
biggest railroad petitioned for protesters to be forcibly
removed.
Canadian officials said talks with indigenous leaders have
already started to net some results, with Transport Minister Marc
Garneau saying a blockade in northern British Columbia that had
been affecting activity at a port in Prince Rupert ended on
Friday.
The "path to resolution for this issue is through dialogue and
seeking to build consensus," Mr. Garneau told reporters in Toronto,
while acknowledging protesters were breaking the law.
More talks between senior Canadian officials and indigenous
leaders would take place over the coming days, Mr. Garneau
said.
The blockades, meant to show solidarity with indigenous leaders
on the west coast who oppose the construction of a natural-gas
pipeline in northern British Columbia, are continuing in Ontario
and Quebec, the country's two biggest provinces. The protests are
affecting business, commuters and travelers, and the country's
biggest business groups say they are putting a chokehold on
economic activity.
Government-owned Via Rail Canada, the passenger-rail operator,
has suspended service indefinitely. Canadian National owns more
than 80% of the tracks used by Via Rail to carry passengers.
Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Co. on Thursday shut
down its eastern Canadian network, saying it regretted the move but
was left with no option because law-enforcement officials weren't
enforcing court orders it obtained to remove protesters.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada is "not
the kind of country where politicians get to tell the police what
to do in operational matters."
"We are a country that recognizes the right to protest, but we
are a country of the rule of law and we will ensure everything is
done to resolve [this]," he said in Munich, where he was attending
a global security gathering.
A spokesman for Ontario Provincial Police said officers were
exercising discretion, and that "is a valid, appropriate approach
to de-escalating situations such as this. The proper exercise of
police discretion should not be confused with a lack of
enforcement."
Canadian's supply chain continues to feel the fallout. At the
country's 17 ports, operators in some cases are turning away ships,
and cargo is beginning to be rerouted to U.S. ports, said Wendy
Zatylny, president of the Association of Canadian Port
Authorities.
The blockades affect "Canadians on an everyday level, inhibiting
access to food and other necessities that allow them to go through
their days," she said.
Andrew Brant, one of the people involved in the roughly
15-person blockade in eastern Ontario, said a meeting with Canada's
Minister of Indigenous Services, Marc Miller, is planned for
Saturday near Belleville, about 120 miles east of Toronto. A
spokeswoman for the minister couldn't immediately confirm the
meeting and said she was unaware of the minister's schedule.
Protests have escalated across Canada since last week, when
police began enforcing a separate court order to remove people
trying to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, based
in British Columbia and the source of the nationwide contention.
The pipeline, owned by TC Energy Corp., is intended to carry gas to
the west coast for shipment to markets in Asia.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 14, 2020 17:56 ET (22:56 GMT)
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