GUERNSEY, Sask. - An estimate of oil spilled in a fiery train derailment in rural Saskatchewan has increased to 10,000 barrels Saskatchewan's Ministry of Environment says new figures from Canadian Pacific show the spill was more than the 7500 barrels initially calculated. The ministry says a significant amount of crude was burned off during the fire, and CP estimates 7500 barrels of oil has so far been recovered. The freight train jumped the tracks on Feb. 6 near Guernsey, about 115 … [Read more...]
Quebec premier says police will dismantle rail blockade if injunction granted
ST-LAMBERT, Que. - Quebec Premier Francois Legault says that police will dismantle a rail blockade in St-Lambert, south of Montreal, if a court grants an injunction. He says the blockade that went up Wednesday is not on First Nations land, making it easier to take action. The blockade in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia was erected on CN tracks, and it has disrupted rail service for suburban commuters and for travellers between Montreal and Quebec … [Read more...]
The latest on protests across Canada in support of anti-pipeline demonstrators
Here is the latest news on protests across Canada over a natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia: Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the RCMP have offered to move officers away from the area where traditional leaders of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation have been opposing a pipeline on their territory. Blair says that meets the conditions set by the chiefs, who have demanded that Mounties leave their traditional lands southwest of Houston, B.C. But yesterday Chief … [Read more...]
Shelved Suncor thermal oilsands project wins Alberta government approval
CALGARY - The Alberta government has approved an application by Suncor Energy Inc. to build a 40,000-barrel-per-day thermal oilsands project but construction is unlikely to start any time soon. The province says in a news release that the Meadow Creek West project 40 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, which would use steam to produce bitumen from wells, can now apply for environmental and local development permits. Suncor CEO Mark Little, however, said earlier this month his company plans … [Read more...]
Chiefs say RCMP and pipeline firm must leave before they meet with government
VANCOUVER - A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief says the chiefs won't meet with the federal government over their opposition to a natural gas pipeline until both the RCMP and Coastal GasLink leave their traditional territory. Na'moks, who also goes by John Ridsdale, said Wednesday the chiefs have communicated their terms to Carolyn Bennett, the minister responsible for Crown-Indigenous relations. Bennett has sought to meet with the chiefs as the federal government faces mounting pressure to … [Read more...]
No injuries as CN train carrying crude oil derails in northwestern Ontario
EMO, Ont. - Canadian National Railway Co. says a train carrying crude oil has derailed in northwestern Ontario. CN says 31 cars came off the tracks near Emo, Ont. at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The company says 26 of those cars were carrying crude oil at the time and at least two are leaking oil. It says no oil has entered local waterways and no one was injured in the derailment. Provincial police issued an evacuation order for anyone within 800 metres of the site, but CN says … [Read more...]
Hereditary chiefs say they’ll meet with ministers if RCMP get out
VANCOUVER - A small, mobile RCMP detachment in a remote area of British Columbia has become a bargaining chip in proposed talks that many hope could put an end to blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across the country. The demonstrations are in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline through their territory and the federal minister in charge of Indigenous relations has proposed a meeting with the chiefs to diffuse the situation. However, … [Read more...]
Opposition promises new info on Trans Mountain costs
OTTAWA - Federal opposition parties are promising new information about the price of the Trans Mountain pipeline at a morning news conference in Ottawa. Environment critics from the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP, and the Greens' leader in the House of Commons Elizabeth May, say they'll sound the alarm about ballooning costs on the project. The federal government bought the existing oil pipeline between Alberta and the B.C. coast, and an unfinished plan to twin it, for $4.5 billion in … [Read more...]
Coastal GasLink pipeline investor committed to closing deal despite protests
CALGARY - One of the investors buying a stake in the Coastal GasLink pipeline says it remains committed to the deal despite protester blockades that have shut down railway lines in some parts of Canada. Alberta Investment Management Corp., which looks after more than $115 billion in public sector pension funds for the province, agreed with American partner KKR in December to buy a 65 per cent interest in a deal that's expected to close in the first half of this year. Developer TC Energy … [Read more...]
Court gives Alberta government 10 days to make decision on oilsands project
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...]
