Lac-Mégantic residents call on Trudeau to move forward on rail bypass
By The Staff
Global News
Posted December 7, 2016 4:22 pm EST
Updated December 7, 2016 4:24 pm EST
1 min read
This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date.
WATCH ABOVE: Quebec’s justice system is facing a crisis because of lengthy delays for criminal trials. As Amanda Jelowicki reports, that could affect the case against the man accused of being responsible for the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster – Nov 30, 2016
A citizens’ group and opposition party members met in Ottawa on Wednesday to ask Trudeau to move forward on building a track that would redirect trains away from homes and businesses in the town.
A spokesman for the group said Trudeau signed a petition calling for a bypass in 2013, just days after a runaway train derailed and exploded in the town’s downtown core, killing 47 people.
But Robert Bellefleur said Trudeau has largely stayed silent since then and has not answered the group’s requests to meet with him personally.
WATCH BELOW: Remembering the victims of the Lac-Mégantic train derailment.
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The group expressed frustration with Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s insistence on waiting for the results of a feasibility study before moving ahead with construction.
Garneau, who has met with the group twice since October 2015, said he understands the impatience but insists the process must follow the rules.
“When the study is completed we can decide, and if we can accelerate the process all the better,” he told reporters.
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Wrecked oil tankers and debris from a runaway train in Lac-Mégantic, Que. are pictured July 8, 2013.
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Smoke rises from railway cars that were carrying crude oil after derailing in Lac Mégantic, Que., July 6, 2013.
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In this July 9, 2013 file photo, workers comb through debris after a train derailed causing explosions of railway cars carrying crude oil in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. A government watchdog says federal regulators are failing to refer serious safety violations involving freight rail shipments of crude oil for criminal prosecution.
Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP, File
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The downtown core lays in ruins as firefighters continue to water the smoldering rubble, Sunday, July 7, 2013 in Lac-Mégantic, Que. after a train derailed igniting tanker cars carrying crude oil. Transport Canada has approved rules intended to reduce the risk of runaway trains in response to recommendations by the Transportation Safety Board following the deadly derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Que.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
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Former Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway Ltd. employees Tom Harding, right, Jean Demaitre, centre, and Richard Labrie are escorted by police to appear in court in Lac-Mégantic, Que., on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. The lawyer for the Harding, the train driver charged in the deadly Lac-Mégantic disaster, says Crown prosecutors are seeking to prevent his client from having a preliminary inquiry.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
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This Feb. 16, 2015 photo provided by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada shows a ruptured tank car on fire after a crude oil train derailment south of south of Timmins, Ontario. An investigation into the recent derailment in Ontario of a freight train carrying crude oil suggests new safety standards introduced after the Lac-Mégantic, Que., tragedy are inadequate, Canada's transport investigator said Monday.
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Quebec police investigating the Lac-Mégantic train disaster say they've visited the United States four times to seize documents and to interview witnesses - including railway chairman Ed Burkhardt.
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Firefighters from all over the province, and as far away as Maine, gather for a memorial mass in Lac-Mégantic on July 6, 2014
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That’s not fast enough for Bellefleur, who said the town’s residents are still suffering from the psychological effects of the tragedy.