Canada stalls as green blockades shut rail networks and the movement of goods

© Stefania Eymundson

A row over the building of a new oil pipeline in Canada appears to have crippled the country’s rail freight supply chains after environmental protestors erected blockades at two key points on Canadian National’s network.

“Intermodal containers carrying perishable goods, including food and consumer items, Canadian grain, de-icing fluid at airports, construction materials, propane to Quebec and Atlantic Canada, natural resources creating rural jobs across Canada such as lumber, aluminium, coal and propane; all of these commodities are already impacted and will see their movements even more diminished. Factories and mines will be soon faced with very difficult decisions. The port of Prince Rupert is effectively already shutdown. The ports of Montreal and Halifax are also already feeling the impact of these blockades, which will have a trickledown effect on consumer goods in the next few weeks,” said CN chief executive JJ Ruest.