![]() Pam Palmater, chair of Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, said Via Rail’s decision to halt trains nationwide is “an entirely manufactured crisis.” Premier John Horgan has said he is also willing to meet with demonstrators. That minister will be Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett.ī.C. Trudeau wrote to the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs on Thursday to confirm that a member of his cabinet will meet with them to discuss the issue. One of the letter’s three recipients, Tyendinaga Mohawk Chief Donald Maracle, said he expects the meeting will take place, but he would not commit to ending the demonstration. "I hope you will agree to this request and that we can meet in the spirit of peace and co-operation that should guide our relationship,” Miller said in an email posted publicly on Thursday. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has sent a letter to protest organizers asking them to meet with him Saturday to discuss the situation and dismantle the barricade. They say the protests are the only way to get their message across. Ruest said commuter rail link services such as Metrolinx and Exo can continue operating “so long as they can do so safely.”ĬN said its shutdown may lead to temporary layoffs for some employees in eastern Canada.ĭemonstrators remain camped out at two blockades on a rail line in Belleville, Ont. We strongly urge these parties to do so.” “All parties must engage in open and respectful dialogue to ensure this situation is resolved peacefully. “A safe and efficient passenger and freight rail service is critical to the well-being of our country,” Morneau said in a statement. Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who has previously called the blockades "illegal" and said enforcing injunctions against protesters is a provincial responsibility, said Thursday that he is “deeply concerned” by the rail shutdown. “With over 400 trains cancelled during the last week and new protests that emerged at strategic locations on our mainline, we have decided that a progressive shutdown of our Eastern Canadian operations is the responsible approach to take for the safety of our employees and the protestors,” CN Rail CEO JJ Ruest said in a statement issued Thursday. The company says that, while the blockades have ended in Manitoba and may be “imminently” ending in B.C., the court orders in Ontario “continue to be ignored.” Similar protests have emerged across Canada with supporters saying they want the RCMP to leave the traditional Wet'suwet'en territory.ĬN Rail said it has sought and obtained court orders and requested help from enforcement agencies for the blockades in Ontario, Manitoba and B.C. So far, RCMP have arrested 28 protesters in B.C. The 670-kilometre pipeline crosses the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation near Houston, B.C. The group had been halting construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, a major piece of a $40-billion LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export project. The protests began last week after the RCMP enforced a court injunction against Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs and their supporters. “Obviously we’re a country with a rule of law and we need to make sure that those laws are followed,” Trudeau said Thursday after arriving in Germany for the Munich Security Conference. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is following the situation closely. Passengers with bookings will receive automatic refunds, and the company will not accept any new bookings before Feb. Only two northern routes – Sudbury-White River and Churchill-The Pas – will remain open. Via Rail, which relies on CN’s tracks, said it had “no other option” than to cancel almost its entire service effective immediately. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the rule of law must be followed after railway blockades across Canada forced CN Rail to shut down its entire Eastern Canada network and Via Rail to cancel passenger trains nationwide.ĬN Rail, which obtained court orders in hopes of ending the blockades, said Thursday it is progressively shutting down its operations in Eastern Canada “until the illegal blockades end.” The company said that also means stopping all transcontinental trains across its Canadian network. ![]()
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