PM coming to Winnipeg but won’t visit Churchill

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This article was published 25/07/2017 (3008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — As Churchill reaches its ninth week without its rail lifeline, Ottawa remains silent on Omnitrax’s decision to not pay for the line’s repairs.

And although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to be in Manitoba later this week to attend the 2017 Canada Summer Games, his office said Tuesday he has no imminent plans to visit the hard-hit northern town, despite pleas from Churchill Mayor Mike Spence to do so.

The office of Premier Brian Pallister says he’s written three letters to Trudeau, asking how the federal government sees the future of the town’s port and rail line.

Yet it remains unclear whether Ottawa will seize the rail line, bail out the line’s owner Omnitrax for the repairs or sue the company for breaching its funding agreements.

Trudeau’s office refused to say Tuesday whether the government is studying any of those options. It instead reiterated a statement that the transit minister sent a week earlier.

“We expect everyone to accept responsibility, including the province and especially Omnitrax,” wrote spokesman Cameron Ahmad. “If Omnitrax fails to meet its obligations, we will have to examine next steps and alternatives to ensure residents can get the food and supplies they need.”

Rail service to the town was shut down May 24, cutting off ground transportation in and out of Churchill, whose 900 residents must now rely on expensive air shipments of food and supplies. Last week, Omnitrax said it wouldn’t fund the $20 million to $60 million in repairs needed on Hudson Bay Railway because it’s not economically viable. The line was heavily damaged by flooding this spring. Last summer, Omnitrax closed down the Port of Churchill, which it also owns.

Pallister argued last Wednesday that the two are intertwined, suggesting the rail line’s economic feasibility hinges on the port’s usage.

This week, spokesman Kalen Qually said Pallister still hasn’t received a response from Ottawa, and wouldn’t release the premier’s letters. “As a policy, intergovernmental correspondence is not intended for public distribution,” he wrote.

Qually also suggested Manitoba will apply for federal assistance to offset the $6 million cost of sending 2.2 million litres of propane to Churchill, because the rail line isn’t expected to be fixed before the winter.

Known as the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, the federal program determines Ottawa’s share based on a disaster’s cost and the province’s population, and it increases as costs rise. If Manitoba presented $6 million in disaster expenses, Ottawa would compensate just over $1 million.

The federal Public Safety department says bureaucrats are already putting together a cost-sharing proposal.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca