Northern First Nations offer to repair damaged rail line to Churchill before winter

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This article was published 22/06/2017 (2497 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It could be First Nations to the rescue in Churchill.

The Keewatin Tribal Council and Churchill Mayor Mike Spence declared that First Nations could repair and reopen the flood-damaged rail line to Churchill by fall.

“Our northern First Nations have the capacity to fix the tracks and will not require 10 months,” Ted Bland, York Factory First Nation Chief and chair of the Keewatin Tribal Council, told a news conference Friday.

Sections of the Hudson Bay Railway — the only land link for Churchill’s 900 residents — were damaged by spring flooding and as a result, weekly train service to the community stopped on May 23.

The U.S.-based owner claims repairs cannot be completed before next spring, creating fears within the community of food and fuel shortages in the isolated community, but Bland said the rail line can be repaired and reopened by fall.

“If the rail line is repaired, the resupply issues go away,” Spence said.

Bland said the Keewatin Railway Company has the people, equipment and experience, having repaired nine washouts and a burned bridge on the line to Pukatawagan in weeks — not months — last year. He saw no reason to undertake lengthy engineering studies and assessments or to to send down divers to check below bridges before fixing washouts.

“Enough is enough — we want action now,” he said. “We need Manitoba and Canada to stand up and support Churchill. There’s not been any real action; we get a lot of lip service.”

The Pallister government did not respond directly to the Keewatin Tribal Council proposal Friday, but issued a statement from Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pedersen, who said the province is in ongoing talks with all the parties.

A spokeswoman for federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Ottawa would wait for Omnitrax’s engineering report before weighing in — despite First Nations groups getting involved because of the company’s months-long timeline.

“The Government of Canada is not involved in discussions relating to repairing Omnitrax’s private rail line at this stage,” wrote Delphine Denis. “The company is waiting on the engineering report before taking any action. “

Omnitrax also said it is premature to talk about how best to repair the line until its own evaluation has been completed.

War Lake First Nation Chief Betsy Kennedy could not immediately offer a dollar estimate for carrying out the repairs, but said that costs of shipping supplies to the town by sea and air are piling up every day. Kennedy said Omnitrax is not a partner with governments and northern communities: “They’re there to provide a service. To me, they don’t know how to maintain the tracks properly.”

The Keewatin Railway Company operates a line between The Pas and Lynn Lake, as well as spur lines and lines to mining operations throughout the north. The officials said the company has 100 employees available to start work immediately, and 2,000 rail ties in stock.

Spence said that, traditionally, people don’t ask for a cost estimate before dealing with emergencies elsewhere in Manitoba. “All they need is an authorization to start.

“We’re being held hostage,” the mayor said.

Spence accused Omnitrax of delaying repairs because the company, which has been trying to sell both the railway and Port of Churchill, plans to walk away.

“Make no mistake, this is an unprecedented closing,” Spence said. He said photographs show damage to the rail bed but also show water has receded.

“There is no water covering the tracks and there has not been for some time,” Spence said. “This is the beginning of the abandonment of the rail line.”

Bland also said he believes the main cause of the rail line flooding was Manitoba Hydro’s water diversion, not spring run-off. “We’re out to prove there’s a serious impact there,” he said.

But Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen and the province dismissed that claim.

“Where the tracks have washed out is nowhere near the Churchill River,” Owen said.

“A large portion of Manitoba’s north experienced late-season blizzards…in the March blizzard up to 50 centimeters of snow fell in Thompson, Churchill saw up to 80 centimeters of snow.

“Flooding was compounded by the fast timing of the melt and runoff and the slow breakup of ice on major rivers, including the Nelson and Churchill.

“The situation experienced in the north is unprecedented, almost double the historic maximum levels recorded since the federal government began tracking water levels in this region in the early 1950s,” Owen said.

The province said, “The Hydrologic Forecast Centre of Manitoba Infrastructure reports the late winter blizzard and rapid melt resulted in heavy overland runoff and this is the principal cause of the flooding and the impact on the railway north of Gillam.”

– with file from Dylan Robertson

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca