HALIFAX – Businesses and homes across the Maritimes are days away from running out of propane as a result of anti-pipeline protests that have severed rail links across Canada.
Ian Wilson, president of Halifax-based Wilson Fuel, says his company is already rationing propane by partially filling customers’ tanks.
Wilson says his company is trying to ship some product into the region by truck, but that won’t meet the demand.
He says the shortage is not just an inconvenience, it’s a health and safety issue for people who use propane to heat their homes.
As of Thursday, Canadian National Railway started a progressive shutdown in Eastern Canada, while Via Rail cancelled all service on CN tracks in Canada.
The protests began last week after the RCMP in British Columbia enforced an injunction against hereditary chiefs and their supporters blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline near Houston, B.C.