Trudeau visit to Churchill would bring hope to a community losing faith in politicians: minister

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This article was published 26/07/2017 (3006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Churchill’s Anglican pastor is praying Justin Trudeau changes his mind, a day after the Prime Minister’s Office said he doesn’t plan to visit the town.

“We kind of just feel like some days, that you’re abandoned at the end of the line,” said Hannah Bazlik, reverend for St. Paul’s Anglican Church. “That doesn’t do anything good for anybody’s psyche.”

On Monday, Churchill Mayor Mike Spence invited Trudeau in a letter that mentioned the town’s issues since losing rail service on May 24. But the next day, Trudeau’s office said he had no plans to head north after visiting Winnipeg for the Canada Summer Games.

“It just boggles the mind that we seem to be so short-sighted,” said Spence. “It’s imperative that he [Trudeau] do come to Churchill. He needs to see firsthand the issue that we’re faced with, but also the opportunity.”

Spence says his town is a tourism hotspot with a marine observatory in the works — but that rising shipping costs could squander these opportunities. He’s part of a group affiliated with Opaskwayak Cree Nation that proposes taking over the rail line.

In late May, another First Nations group called Missinippi Rail inked a $20-million deal with Omnitrax for the port and rail line, but said it needed federal funds to follow through.

Omnitrax owns Churchill’s rail line and port, but says it’s not economically feasible to pay for the line’s $20 to $60 million repairs. Premier Brian Pallister has said Ottawa must decide how to proceed.

Last week, the area’s MP, Niki Ashton, started a petition, calling on the federal Liberals to seize the rail line and help local groups take it over.

“Ottawa is walking away from a solution to the Churchill crisis,” claims the NDP petition, which Ashton plans to table this fall in Parliament.

Bazlik saw a flurry of signatures during Tuesday’s afternoon tea with seniors.

She says she’s never seen so much despair in Churchill since arriving in 1971, even last year when Omnitrax laid off port workers.

“It’s when you don’t feel good about yourself that people do the wrong things.”

There are rumours of an uptick in robberies and other crimes since May, but the local RCMP detachment says it isn’t laying more charges than normal.

On Facebook, dozens of town residents are debating a myriad of suggestions, from sending military engineers to repair the line, to using it for an off-road race for enticing media attention and corporate sponsorship.

Bazlik says a visit by Trudeau would bring hope to a community losing faith in politicians down south. Her Sunday service will focus on prayers “that our government will take into consideration our situation, and do something so the young people can work.”

She hopes people in Winnipeg join in.

“Please pray for us in the north. Because everyone needs the Lord’s help up here, I can tell you that.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca