Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media, flanked by (l-r) Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett and Transport Minister Marc Garneau in Ottawa on Feb. 21, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Patrick Doyle)

Trudeau demands rail blockades be lifted

Canadians' patience running out, PM says

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday demanded aboriginal protesters lift rail blockades that are hurting the economy and made clear police should, if necessary, enforce injunctions to remove the obstacles. Trudeau also told a news conference that the Liberal government’s talks with various indigenous leaders over the last two weeks […] Read more

A demonstrator stands at a blockade on CN track west of Edmonton on Feb. 19, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Codie McLachlan)

Grain vessels backing up at West Coast

MarketsFarm — Vessels waiting to ship grain off Canada’s West Coast are backing up as blockades across the country slow rail traffic, according to reports tracking grain movement. Railway blockades have sprung up at a number of locations across the country over the past two weeks, as protestors express solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing […] Read more

Federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller meets with representatives of the Mohawk Nation at the site of a rail stoppage at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 15, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

Passenger trains to run again, pipeline protests block freight

Ottawa | Reuters — Passenger rail operator Via Rail said Tuesday it would soon resume partial services between Quebec City and Ottawa while the government sought to end anti-pipeline protests that are blocking rail freight in Eastern Canada. Via said passenger services between the two cities would start on Thursday after it received a notification […] Read more

A CN freight train remains halted as train tracks are blocked two km away at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

Canada rules out sending police in on rail protests

Superior Propane expects supply shortages soon

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Liberal government said on Friday it was deeply concerned about protests by aboriginal activists that are blocking some key railway lines but rejected a call to send in the police. Indigenous communities opposed to the construction of a gas pipeline project in British Columbia started interrupting rail traffic last week. […] Read more

Members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory block tracks serving Via Rail at Tyendinaga, Ont., east of Belleville, on Feb. 13, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

CN halts rail traffic in East due to protests

Grain groups seek dispute resolution or enforcement of court orders

Canadian National Railway (CN) is shutting down its Eastern Canada operations due to ongoing blockades on its rail lines in Ontario. The company announced Thursday it’s been “forced to initiate a disciplined and progressive shutdown” in the region, which means “stopping and safely securing all transcontinental trains across its Canadian network.” The decision “may imminently […] Read more


CN locomotives in Winnipeg. (Photo courtesy CN)

CN could shut parts of network over pipeline protests

Reuters — Canadian National Railway said Tuesday it would be forced to shut down parts of its network unless rail line blockades in protest against a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia are removed. The protests of recent weeks are seen as a flashpoint for indigenous rights and reconciliation and demonstrators on Tuesday also blocked […] Read more

Farmers dump bags of corn grain in front of the Papineau riding office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, as they protest the lack of propane due to the CN strike, on Nov. 25, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Christinne Muschi)

CN conductors approve post-strike deal

Canadian National Railway’s conductors and yard workers have voted for at least another two and a half years of labour peace with the company. The affected employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted 91.3 per cent to ratify a three-year contract with CN, retroactive to last July 23, the union said in a […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CN, CP come in under 2018-19 grain revenue caps

Changes to federal rail transport rules that took effect in 2018 have put Canada’s big two railways well under their new Prairie grain revenue caps for the 2018-19 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Monday announced Canadian National Railway (CN) booked 2018-19 Prairie grain revenue of $933,357,710, a figure $371,116 below what the CTA […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Teamsters seek charges against CP to cap working hours

Montreal/Toronto | Reuters — A union is taking the unusual step of pursuing contempt of court charges against Canada’s second-largest railroad, in a previously unreported case that escalates the debate over working hours for railroad employees, according to two sources and legal documents. The Teamsters union argued in court filings that Canadian Pacific Railway should […] Read more

(CN.ca)

CN reports grain movement back at pre-strike pace

Canadian National Railway’s grain shipping is back to its pre-strike pace, the railway says. “By the second week of December (week 19), CN returned to shipping at peak levels, as well as taking on all customer hopper demand for the second and third weeks of December,” Montreal-based CN said in a release Thursday. “Despite a […] Read more