WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says he is open to discussing a possible oil pipeline to the Port of Churchill as a way of getting western energy to ocean tankers. The idea has been revived recently by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, among others, and comes seven years after Manitoba's former NDP government rejected shipping oil by rail to the subarctic town on Hudson Bay. "The previous NDP government dismissed the very idea of shipping oil products out of Churchill out of [Read more]

WINNIPEG - An anti-pipeline blockade of a major rail line west of Winnipeg has come down. Protesters have dismantled barriers they set up one day earlier on an east-west Canadian National rail line, but the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition says more action is coming. The blockade was one of many protests across the country against construction of a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia that would cross the traditional territory of the o: First [Read more]

Via Rail has extended train cancellations on major routes in Ontario and Quebec as protests against a pipeline in northern B.C. stretched into a sixth-day on Wednesday. Passenger and freight rail services have been hit particularly hard by the protests as demonstrators erect barricades on lines in different parts of the country. Via Rail is cancelling service on its Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes until at least the end of the day on Friday because of a blockade near Belleville, [Read more]

WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government is going to seek a court injunction to end a rail-line blockade west of Winnipeg. The blockade is one of many protests across the country over a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia that would cross the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation. Protesters uploaded video on social media showing the Winnipeg blockade stopping trains in both directions on a main east-west Canadian National line. Premier Brian [Read more]

VICTORIA - Premier John Horgan says anti-pipeline protests that saw hundreds of people block entrances to the B.C. legislature are unacceptable. Horgan says he cancelled a scheduled Tuesday afternoon news conference because he needed 24 hours to consider his thoughts after witnessing hundreds of people hurling abuse and blocking entrances to the legislature. The premier says after reflection he believes the government must continue to carry on with its agenda of reconciliation with [Read more]

EDMONTON - Alberta's Indigenous relations minister says a last-minute war of words with a First Nations leader over a multibillion-dollar oilsands mine is a case of bare-knuckle bargaining. Rick Wilson says he hopes the spat with Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam doesn't hurt a federal decision on whether to green light the $20.6-billion Teck Resources Frontier project in northern Alberta. "He (Adam) is a negotiator. He sees a spot where maybe he could get a little extra cash for his [Read more]

REGINA - The Saskatchewan government has appointed a special mediator in a contract dispute that has dragged on more for more than two months at a Regina oil refinery. Labour Minister Don Morgan says veteran arbitrator Vince Ready will try to help the refinery owner and the union for about 700 workers reach an agreement. Federated Co-operatives Ltd. locked out workers Dec. 5 when Unifor Local 594 issued strike notice. Pensions are the main sticking point in the contract fight. Ready, [Read more]

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he's concerned blockades in support of First Nations opponents to a northern British Columbia natural gas pipeline are a "dress rehearsal" for opposition to future energy projects. Demonstrations have blocked railways, ports and bridges across the country in solidarity with those fighting the Coastal Gas Link project that crosses the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation. Kenney describes the protests as "ecocolonialism" from [Read more]

VICTORIA - Hundreds of protesters blocked the entrances to the British Columbia legislature on Tuesday as demonstrations in support of Indigenous hereditary chiefs who oppose a pipeline project continued to flare across the country. Protesters, who have been camping outside the legislature since Friday, hollered "Shame" as politicians tried to enter the building with help from security and others chanted "Shut down Canada" and "Stand up, fight back." Demonstrations have sprung up across [Read more]

GUERNSEY, Sask. - The Saskatchewan government says about 7500 barrels of oil were spilled during a fiery train derailment in Saskatchewan last week. The province's ministry of environment says the amount of oil recovered is still being determined, as a significant portion was burned off. Thirty-two of the train's 104 cars derailed and a dozen caught fire on Thursday near Guernsey, southeast of Saskatoon. In response, the federal government ordered lower speed limits for all trains [Read more]