Passenger operator VIA Rail Canada said yesterday 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 Rail said passenger services between the two cities would start tomorrow after it received a notification from Canadian National Railway Co, the country’s biggest rail road.
Protests opposing the construction of a gas pipeline project in British Columbia have disrupted passenger trains and goods transportation in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to address legislators later yesterday about the disruption caused by the blockades, his office said.
Earlier in the day he met a group of cabinet ministers which is addressing the crisis.
“We would obviously like to find a way to move forward in a peaceful manner,” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said before the meeting.
Meanwhile, Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg tweeted support for the Wet’suwet’en indigenous people of British Columbia and their campaign against the C$6.6bn ($4.98bn) Coastal GasLink project.
The demonstrations spread as environmentalists joined the campaign, arguing that Canada — a major energy exporter — should do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Perry Bellegarde, head of the Assembly of First Nations umbrella group, called for calm and constructive dialogue.
“The Wet’suwet’en peoples have asked that they be given space for their own internal dialogue...they have told me they want to create their own approach to formalise discussion with federal and provincial governments,” he told a news conference yesterday.
Police in British Columbia have mounted a series of operations to clear the protests, angering aboriginal groups who complain the country’s indigenous population is marginalised.
Some bands insist they can veto on projects on their land, a stance rejected by Canadian courts.
International / Canada
Canada passenger trains to run again, gas pipeline protesters block freight traffic
Supporters of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en Nation march during a protest against British Columbia’s pipeline, in Toronto on Monday.
