Tragic deaths of three rail workers

Urgent need for a rail safety regime that serves the employees and public | Editorial of Workers’ Forum

Workers’ Forum expresses its deepest condolences to the families, loved ones and co-workers of conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer, Canadian Pacific Railway crew members killed on February 4, in a train derailment near the Alberta-British Columbia border. The train plunged nearly 60 metres from a bridge into the Kicking Horse River.

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Fifth anniversary of Lac-Mégantic tragedy: Hold rail monopolies and governments accountable!

By Pierre Chénier

 July 6, 2018 marks the fifth anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, one of the worst train disasters in Canadian history. On the evening of March 5, the Mégantic community participated in a silent march that ended at the cemetery where many of the victims of the tragedy are buried.

Who owns Amtrak?

The name Amtrak comes from a combination of “American” and “track.” The USA does not have a national passenger rail system, let alone a publicly-owned system.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is a government-owned corporation established as a product of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, to provide intercity passenger train service throughout the United States. It was created by the Richard Nixon presidency largely to protect the private railroads (today’s Class I freight railroads) from their obligation of having to run money-losing passenger routes. The U.S. government owns the preferred stock while private rail companies, including Canadian Pacific and Canadian Rail, own the common stock. Later the Congress stripped preferred shares of voting rights and any liquidation preference, effectively leaving common shareholders in control. Curiously, there has never been a shareholder’s meeting.

John Baird continues his work for private monopolies

Politicization of private interests – Baird did yeoman’s work for private monopoly interests as Canada’s jingoist Foreign Minister putting Canada on war footing against their competitors. Baird is continuing on the same career path but with more lucrative rewards. GEORGE ALLEN

On March 25, Stephen Harper’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird was hired by the Barrick Gold monopoly to sit on its international advisory board. Canada’s conflict-of-interest legislation theoretically prevents cabinet ministers from negotiating future employment while in office. Baird’s resignation from Parliament only took effect on March 16, yet everyone is to believe that the Barrick offer was made during the nine days between March 16 and 25.