Push for rail safety

Photo: The Canadian Press

Under the spectre of the Lac-Megantic, Que., rail disaster, local politicians in British Columbia are joining with other West Coast politicians to pressure the federal government to overhaul Canada's antiquated railway laws.

The U.S.-led Safe Energy Leadership Alliance invited B.C.'s leaders to combine with its members to lobby for new protections from train accidents in Canada and the United States.

Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer says Canadian railway rules have hardly changed since they were written a century ago, when trains chugged through sparse areas that only later would become populated cities.

She says those in communities across the West Coast worry they won't be able to handle emergencies such as derailments involving hazardous coal and oil.

Reimer said Transport Canada has indicated that shipments of oil by rail over the next 10 years is expected to leap by 44 per cent.

Dow Constantine, who chairs the alliance from Washington State, says municipalities on both sides of the border share the same problem with national governments having almost all authority over rail lines.