By Pete McIntyre

MP says rail blockades having local impact

Feb 19, 2020 | 4:33 PM

The Member of Parliament for North Okanagan-Shuswap says protests are a freedom in Canada, but the current rail blockades are taking away freedoms from other people.

Conservative Mel Arnold won’t go as far as his leader, Andrew Scheer, who wants police to move in, but says something needs to be done soon, not in weeks or months as he says the prime minister has suggested.

Arnold says in addition to the impact on businesses in Eastern Canada and Prairie grain farmers, his office is getting calls from energy workers who live in the North Okanagan-Shuswap and work in northern Alberta.

“These are big, tough energy workers and they are scared about their jobs. They’re scared that this is just the beginning of what’s coming next,” Arnold told Vernon Matters.

“These are big, tough energy workers and they are scared about their jobs. They’re scared that this is just the beginning of what’s coming next,” MP Mel Arnold told Vernon Matters.

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Arnold says he hasn’t heard of any direct business impact locally, but he is hearing from workers and their families who are concerned about their futures.

“There is a lot of people being impacted by this including Wetʼsuwetʼen people that want to go to work on this project. It’s not just non-Indigenous people that are being affected. It’s Indigenous groups along the whole route that are being affected,” said the second term MP.

Supporters of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline through their territory in northern B.C. have set up blockades that have stalled rail traffic.

Via Rail announced Wednesday it is temporarily laying off 1,000 employees due to blockades that continue to halt service on CN tracks in Eastern Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is working extremely hard to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Arnold says the Conservatives have tabled a non-confidence motion against the minority Trudeau government.

“It’s been tabled so that it can be brought up for debate at any time.”

Arnold says its “unpredictable” as to whether the motion can get enough support from the other parties.

“There is a different tone in Question Period today. Yesterday there were a lot of smirks and dis-credit coming from the other side. Today there was a very serious look on every member of the Liberal party as the debate was taking place. They realize they have a problem on their hands. They realize they’ve been weak on this, and have let it fester, and now it’s become a real problem they need to deal with,” concluded Arnold.

by Pete McIntyre

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