As one rail blockade remains in place in Canada, the political and financial toll of the three-week disruption to rail transportation continues.
A poll taken in the wake of Canada’s series of rail blockades finds that only 27% of those responding feel Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has handled the situation well, while 45% approve of the actions of provincial premiers.
The poll for the National Post by Dart & Maru/Blue also found a majority of those surveyed feel Canada is heading in the wrong direction, but also suggests that a majority are sympathetic to the indigenous groups which have led the blockades. Some 57% agreed the government lies to indigenous people; 62% percent say Trudeau has not done enough for indigenous people; and 52% say the nation has not done enough for indigenous groups.
The disruptions in rail service have cost Canada’s grain industry an estimated $63 million a week, according to the Financial Post. The Western Grain Elevator Assocation says those costs include contract penalties, demurrage, and capacity losses. Among the penalties are those being paid to more than 50 ships waiting to load grain at Western Canada ports.
Meanwhile, at the last remaining blockade, on the Canadian Pacific at Kahnawake, Quebec, A representative for the Mohawk protesters says Quebec Premier Francois Legault owes them an apology for claiming they were armed with assault weapons. Legault said Wednesday that police had not yet dismantled the blockade because of “information that confirms there are weapons — AK-47s, to name them.” In a statement to the CBC, Legault’s office said “The premier will not apologize … Facts are facts. We reiterate the urgency for the federal government to resolve the crisis.”
In British Columbia, where protests over a gas pipeline crossing First Nations land sparked the blockades across the nation, federal officials and hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en who oppose the pipeline met Thursday for about three hours and are scheduled to meet again today.
