A series of blockades on tracks in various parts of Canada has led to a shutdown of nearly all passenger trains in Canada, as members of some of Canada’s indigenous nations try to stop a gas pipeline from crossing their territory.
The rail blockades started after Mounties broke up a protest camps at the pipeline construction site. The unpredictable shutdowns caused Canadian National, which owns the trackage, to shut service in Eastern Canada, and Via Rail, the passenger carrier that runs on CN rails, to cancel all service except for commuter lines in Toronto and Montreal.
Blockades in some areas were called off by local hereditary chiefs to allow negotiations to take place, but in other areas they have continued, and the future of both the negotiations and the rail service is not yet clear.
