Sask. government concerned about B.C. rail blockades

With protesters blocking rail lines and CN Rail threatening to shut down some service, the Saskatchewan government is very concerned about what’s happening in B.C.

Supporters of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have blockaded some rail lines in B.C. The chiefs are fighting against a Coastal Gaslink pipeline set to be built in northern B.C.

On Tuesday afternoon, CN Rail announced that, unless blockades on its rail lines are removed, it will be forced to close “significant” parts of its Canadian network.

“It’s going to have a significant impact on Saskatchewan’s economy in that we export the vast majority of what we produce in this province. That means we have to get that product to market largely through ports, and largely going west,” said Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s trade and export development minister.

The province’s trade is very dependent on rail lines —70 per cent of everything produced in Saskatchewan is exported, and Harrison said much of that goes by rail.

Harrison said his government has made its view on these blockades very clear to the “relevant authorities,” though he didn’t explain who those authorities are.

“People need to comply with the law. There’s an expectation that enforcement personnel are going to enforce the law. The reality is, these are illegal blockades and it is going to have a significant impact on the Canadian economy in a general sense and the Saskatchewan economy, more specifically,” said Harrison.

Harrison said it’s too early to put a number on the impact the rail issue could have on the province.

“Every day that we’re having transport disruptions is a cost to the economy,” he said. “It remains to be seen how long this is going to go on for but we’ll be monitoring it very closely.”