This protective direction was actually agreed to by both parties: the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Railway Association of Canada. It is understood that trends in rail transport do not really change that much in terms of the costs on railways.
When you look at the smaller railways, there is a section in the protective direction indicating that if there is a significant change in what they see as a trend, the railways need to immediately notify the municipality that they see a trend and that there is a movement of an increase in certain types of transport of dangerous goods. Petroleum crude was one of the increases that was identified as something the municipalities should have been made aware of in terms of an increase.
The protective direction helps first responders in being fully equipped and fully trained. If you look at the transport per se of the different types of dangerous goods, if the train trend doesn't change, the firefighters and the first responders in each municipality are already or will be prepared and trained to answer any incident when the train actually goes through their municipality.