By doing nothing, Omnitrax wins
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2017 (2414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
For all intents and purposes, it’s over. By doing nothing, Omnitrax has won.
Of course, not doing anything was the Denver-based company’s intention all along. And as it turns out, victory by complete inaction is a pretty easy way to win.
Still, it would be unfair to say Omnitrax, the recalcitrant, out-of-country owner of the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway, was able to achieve this do-nothing victory without help. Two levels of government have also been actively inactive participants in the ongoing drama that has left Churchill struggling after washouts severed the railway connection that brings people and supplies to the northern Manitoba town.
Since spring floods damaged several sections of the railway in May, Omnitrax has used numerous tactics to arrive at an outcome that anyone paying even the slightest attention could have predicted.
By delaying and deflecting, the company has declared the Hudson Bay Railway financially unviable and has essentially guaranteed it will remain structurally unusable for the foreseeable future.
For several weeks after the washout, Omnitrax officials declared the ground too waterlogged for a damage assessment to be done. A pair of motorcycle adventurers from Colorado proved otherwise in mid-June by riding the route between Thompson and Churchill, taking photos of damaged areas along the way.
Omnitrax then stated it would take at least six weeks to complete a damage assessment, and added whatever repairs were deemed necessary would not be completed at the company’s expense.
When they finally provided a technical briefing in mid-July, Omnitrax officials stated repairs would cost between $20 million and $60 million — a wildly imprecise estimate — to complete, and reiterated the company has no intention of paying the bill.
While Omnitrax was busy doing exactly the kind of nothing it fully intended to do, the province maintained it would take no action until the total repair cost was known, and it is the federal government’s responsibility to force Omnitrax to live up to the terms of the contract it signed in 2008.
During a visit to Winnipeg for the opening of the Canada Summer Games, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the need for immediate action on Churchill, then lapsed back into the familiar posture that it’s up to Omnitrax to repair the railway.
No deadline for such action, or for the government to declare the company in default and take over the line, was offered.
After a face-to-face meeting with the prime minister on July 29, Premier Brian Pallister said Manitobans could expect an announcement concerning the Churchill situation “in the coming days.”
And still, Churchill waited, as Omnitrax — presumably, with some satisfaction — watched the summer sun rise and set.
Last week, the federal transportation regulator said it would investigate whether Omnitrax has breached its obligation to keep the railway running only after a formal complaint is lodged. After a Free Press story outlined the procedure, the Canadian Transportation Agency received a dozen such complaints.
Still, the investigation will likely take weeks to complete, so it’s safe to say there is very little chance rail service can be restored to Churchill this year. Once the ground freezes, repairs are impossible.
When it declared the Hudson Bay Railway impassable, Omnitrax went all-in on a bet it could run out the clock on Churchill this year.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” isn’t exactly a game plan, but for Omnitrax, it seems to have been a no-lose strategy.