How Québec cities can avoid repeats of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster
On July 6, 2013 an unattended freight train carrying crude oil rolled down a hill and derailed in the downtown area of the city of Lac-Mégantic, resulting in a huge explosion causing the loss of 47 lives. Many Canadian cities are concerned about the possibility of a similar disaster in their back yards, given that Canadian railways fall under federal government jurisdiction, and thus do not have to answer to municipalities when it comes to regulation.
But is this truly the case? In Québec, the provincial “Municipal Powers Act” enacted in 2005, states in paragraph 62, “A local municipality may adopt by-laws in matters of safety.” Trains transporting dangerous goods through a municipality certainly is a safety issue! What is to prevent Québec cities from enacting by-laws requiring railways to provide manifests of goods being transported, prior to receiving permission to take those goods through the municipality; if the manifest shows that the train includes dangerous goods, other restrictions might apply, such as a maximum speed, adequate staffing, adequate training and supervision of staff – the list could go on.
Of course such a by-law would encounter resistance and legal challenges. But this is one issue where citizens are sure to support the municipality against the big railway corporations, and elected officials at all levels would need to be very careful about which side they would choose to support.