CALGARY - A judge is giving the Alberta government 10 days to make a decision on an oilsands project that has raised concern from a nearby First Nation. "There is a strong public interest in encouraging a timely cabinet decision. The balance of convenience supports an injunction," Calgary Court of Queen's Bench Justice Barbara Romaine said Tuesday. Prosper Petroleum Ltd. had asked the court to force the United Conservative government to rule on a project that was initially proposed in 2013 [Read more]

The federal government says it will support an international ban on environmentally damaging heavy fuel oils in Arctic shipping. The decision comes despite concerns that forcing shippers to use more expensive fuels will raise costs for northern families. A Transport Canada study says the average Nunavut household would see an increase of up to $649 a year. A Nunavut government spokeswoman says the territory will push for measures to help offset the cost to residents and industry. A [Read more]

Here is the latest news on protests across Canada over a natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia: Via Rail is preparing to resume part of its passenger rail service as anti-pipeline protests affect many freight and passenger train routes in Canada. The company says it has been notified by Canadian National Railway and partial service will be resume Thursday to and from Ottawa and Quebec City, with a stop in Montreal. Almost all other Via trains, except for the Sudbury-White [Read more]

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in talks over the weekend with federal cabinet ministers as protesters opposed to a pipeline project in British Columbia continued to halt train service across parts of the country. Trudeau's spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon says the prime minister has already spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Carolyn Bennett, the minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations. Gagnon says [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says protest blockades shutting down rail service across Canada are quickly creating a full-blown economic crisis. Kenney says Canada is a commodity-producing country and most of those go by rail. He says if rail service isn't restored soon, thousands of jobs are at risk because of what he calls "angry fringe groups." The blockades started with a protest by some Indigenous groups over the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline that would pass [Read more]

The Transportation Safety Board says its investigators have not found any mechanical defects on a train that derailed and spilled oil in rural Saskatchewan. The Canadian Pacific Railway freight train jumped the tracks on Feb. 6 near Guernsey, about 115 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon. The accident sent flames and thick black smoke into the air and spilled 7500 barrels of crude oil. There were no reported injuries, but 85 residents were evacuated from the area for more than 24 [Read more]

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 [Read more]

VICTORIA - Anti-pipeline protests that have severed vital freight and passenger rail links across Canada could heat up today, with the added threat of activists planning to shut down government offices in British Columbia's capital. Protests continue as political leaders look to negotiate solutions, while business leaders, opposition politicians and ordinary people call for immediate action to end the disruptions, which have already seen more than 80 arrests. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [Read more]

RCMP began enforcing an injunction last week that prevents interference with construction of a $6.6-billion natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia. Here is a timeline of rail disruptions by people showing solidarity with hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink project: Feb. 6 — Protesters in Belleville, Ont., east of Toronto, start stopping railway traffic. Feb. 7 — Via Rail halts service along one of its busiest routes because of the Belleville blockade. [Read more]