Evidence of meeting #38 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was agency.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chair, Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako
Thanks.
We've talked to CNR. Our suggestion is that prior to a train leaving the place it starts at, it needs to have a manifest of what's on that train. That needs to go out ahead and be information that is immediately available on each train as it goes through a community.
That way, if there ever is a derailment or accident, immediately the fire chief and his volunteers will be able to identify very quickly whether is it a concern, if we need to evacuate the community and what the safety issue is.
Liberal
Churence Rogers Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL
What kind of response have you gotten from the rail companies to those suggestions?
Ms. Bleau, I'll come to you after to respond to the same questions.
Chair, Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako
We've received very little response.
Basically, we get a reinterpretation of what the act says, and we find the act to be very light when it comes to rail traffic. While there's a lot in it for sea traffic, it's very light for rail traffic. The thing is that we don't get a great response. We're told that there is access to help, but as we heard earlier, it's probably 12 to 24 hours away from our community.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Mr. Thiessen, and Mr. Rogers.
We're now going to move on to Mr. Barsalou-Duval for three minutes.
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I first want to let the committee members know how disappointed I am that we aren't able to have a full meeting. We were supposed to hear from some important witnesses today, and it would've been very useful to have the opportunity to ask them questions.
I won't waste any more time, but I would like to share a little story.
I grew up next to a set of railway tracks in Boucherville. I lived there for 30 years. When I was young, I loved watching the trains go by. I would count the cars; it was an important part of my day. Time passed, the accident in Lac‑Mégantic happened and the types of railcars going past the house changed. We saw more oil cars and we started to worry that what happened in Lac‑Mégantic would happen to us. The railroad, something that used to bring me happiness, became a source of anxiety and fear.
I know we don't have much time, so I will get to my questions for Ms. Bleau. I want to address some of the things she said.
Ms. Bleau, in your opening statement, you talked about the importance of municipalities and citizen groups having access to information on what the railway cars going through the city are carrying. At the very least, those parties should have more latitude to access the information. What are your complaints in that regard? How should the information be made available? What needs to change?
You also talked about relocating the railway line to keep it outside town boundaries so residents are no longer at risk. That would even allow railway companies to operate more efficiently, since they would be subject to fewer restrictions outside town boundaries.
Lastly, you said the city had already invested in a pre-feasibility study. I realize that a feasibility study costs a lot more. How would federal support make a difference?
City Councillor, City of Boucherville, Comité ferroviaire de Boucherville
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To answer what I think was your first question, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, I want to point out that the information is available now, but only after the railcars have gone by. The information is not available before the trains and railcars go through the town. When they go by, our safety has already been jeopardized unbeknownst to us; we didn't have the benefit of knowing that we should have been especially careful, that we should have been on alert. Our security is always on the lookout and ready to respond, of course, but it would be helpful to have the information.
Yes, the city did put money towards a pre-feasibility study to determine whether the railway line could be diverted around the urban area. We found out that it was indeed possible. A feasibility study would be incredibly useful, since it would provide a more comprehensive analysis. We would then be able to show that both CN and CP would benefit from relocating the railway line to the centre of Highway 30 or adjacent to it.
The Contrecœur port terminal is expected to handle thousands of containers a day. If the number of trains allowed to pass through Boucherville is limited to two, the highway will have to be used to transport the rest of the goods. That isn't any better for the environment. If support is provided to the Contrecœur port terminal for advancement and development, CN and CP would benefit even more from the relocation of the railway line.
That is why we would like the Government of Canada to help us pay for the feasibility study.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Ms. Bleau and Mr. Barsalou-Duval.
Mr. Bachrach, you have the floor.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses.
Thanks for being patient with the difficulties we've had this evening and for being with us and sharing your stories.
I'd like to start with you, Mr. Thiessen.
Chair Thiessen, you work with other municipalities in the region, you're a mayor yourself and you're the chair of the regional district. I wonder if you could characterize for the committee the relationship between local governments in northwest B.C. and the main rail company that you deal with, which is CN.
Chair, Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako
Yes. It's very tenuous. We receive presentations when we request them, but when we send in follow-up questions and ask questions that would really relate to how we operate and what our capacity is as a community, we don't receive responses. Since November, we have been waiting for a response from CN Rail on some questions we had about the number of accidents in our area. We also sent the minister a letter in September and, as of yet, I understand that we're still waiting for a response.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Thiessen.
The buck stops with the federal government. The federal government is the regulator of the railroad. I wonder how much engagement there has been between Transport Canada and local governments when it comes to these rail concerns.
Chair, Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako
Yes—very little.
A number of years ago—I'm going to guess probably about five—as a regional district we had a full-day session in the Town of Smithers on rail safety and what it meant to our communities. We found that the information we received from the federal government had a lot of implications when it came to sea safety and safety off the rail, but when we asked the question of how that pertains to us in our community to keep our community safe, we found that information lacking.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I'll turn now to Ms. Remington.
Ms. Remington, on January 19, 2018, there was a derailment at Mission Creek near Hazelton where 3,000 tonnes of selenium coal spilled into the creek. Can you speak briefly to the impact of this on the environment? Do you know if the area has been cleaned up to the satisfaction of the local community?
Chair, Friends of Morice-Bulkley
My understanding is that CN.... Well, initially the creek was frozen, and they did have volunteers—just volunteers from the town, partly, and some from CN—to pick it off the surface of the creek. The second concern of the consultants for CN who came in was just to get the line open again and get trains moving, so all of these huge piles of coal sat there. In fact, they sat there for three or four weeks before CN came back and attempted to load the coal into cars and take it away. They got quite a bit of it, but approximately a tonne of high-selenium coal was left on the edge of the tracks, on the base of the creek and in the creek, and they thought that was a good cleanup.
The creek had a group that had worked very hard on salmon enhancement and in fact had a large run of nice big salmon coming into the creek. They had built a fence and were counting them every year, so they knew their numbers. Needless to say, I guess, for the numbers for the next year—this is an approximation—instead of over 300, there were 72. Subsequent years have.... It's questionable that this run will ever come back the way it did, and I assume that may be because of ongoing contamination to the area.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Ms. Remington and Mr. Bachrach.
Members and witnesses, I truly apologize for the technical difficulties we've had today.
Witnesses, your testimony is very valuable; although limited, it is very valuable. You can rest assured that your testimony will be included with the analysts' reports to us, and will of course be included in our final report.
Members, I want to thank you as well for your patience today.
To the House resources team, these things happen. I want to thank you for your time today as well. I know that you were sort of chomping at your nails a few times. I want to thank you all for your job today too. Well done.
With that, members, I will take this opportunity to adjourn the meeting. Have a great evening.