A Lower Mainland politician is raising concerns, saying the work stoppage at Canada’s two major railways is going to have an impact on more than just unionized employees.
In addition to disrupting the transportation of goods, the rail shutdown has halted West Coast Express service in the Lower Mainland and more commuter services in other Canadian cities.
From people being forced to take their cars around, to more trucks on the roads to get cargo from A to B — freight that used to go via rail — Maple Ridge councillor Ahmed Yousef says this situation will take a toll.
“We’re looking at a significant increase in vehicle traffic, congestion, and our carbon footprint, even, as a region. And, specifically, as the municipality of Maple Ridge, we’re going to have some significant issues as a result of this,” he told 1130 NewsRadio Thursday.
“It’s going to have quite an impact, not just economically but also psychologically. When our people … are leaving to work and coming back, when they’re literally sitting in their cars seeing red for over an hour, they’re not going to get to work in the best of moods and they’re not going to come home to their families in the best of moods either.”
He says two thirds of Maple Ridge’s population leaves the community to work every day. Many of them, he notes, use the WCE.
“For them, it’s really going to be detrimental as to how they are getting around,” said Yousef.
The councillor is joining the calls of countless others who are urging Canadian National Railway Co. (CN Rail), Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC), and Teamsters Canada to get back to the table and hammer out a deal as soon as possible.
Councillor fears stoppage could lead to ‘trucks lined up all the way from the Port of Vancouver out to Hope’
He notes life is already too expensive for people, adding this rail stoppage will only add to challenges.
“Really consider that this is going to have such wide-reaching ramifications on already-expensive products such as groceries, fuels. You’re going to increase demand on not just consumer fuels but commercial fuels for the trucking that’s going to have to step up to a great extent without the ability of entirely covering the demand,” Yousef explained.
“We’ve heard from the trucking industry saying that they will do their best but there are certain things that they cannot do and certain demands that they will not be able to meet, as hard as they try. I’m thinking of a nightmare scenario and I hope it never materializes, but you can see probably trucks lined up all the way from the Port of Vancouver out to Hope.”
CN and CPKC locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors, and yard workers after the parties did not agree on new contracts before a midnight deadline Thursday. Bargaining between workers and the country’s two largest railways was set to resume at 10:30 a.m. ET.
On Wednesday, business groups pleaded for Ottawa to step in and prevent the work stoppage that would upend supply chains — while the prime minister stressed a deal at the table is the best outcome.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared on Thursday that the federal government will have “more to say shortly” on what it’s doing to resolve the lockout. While visiting a manufacturing facility in Sherbrooke, Que., Trudeau said the Liberal government is “not taking this lightly” and is working to find the right solution for the economy.
Business groups have urged the government to step in with binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation, warning that the shutdown will have massive economic consequences.
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-With files from The Canadian Press