XPost: can.politics, nb.general, ont.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics, bc.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   The Harper Cons have given 'self-policing' rights to so many private   
   industries across this country that government inspection and monitoring   
   have become almost totally obsolete.   
      
   Harper and his Cons have played at this game:   
   - 'flout the number of 'laws' we keep introducing, through the media,   
   but don't talk about the lack of enforcement we have to make those laws   
   effective'   
      
   In the meantime, give more and more exemptions to private enterprise   
   companies to operate in a manner that gives them more profits.   
   And Canadians have been buying their BS.   Get smarter . . . . there's   
   an election coming up fast.   
   __________________________________________________   
   CBC News Posted: Jan 09, 2014   
      
      
   Rail safety needs government enforcement not 'luck,' Mulcair says   
      
   Opposition leader's comments follow recent spate of explosive and fiery   
   train derailments   
      
      
   At a news conference today federal Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair   
   suggested ways of improving rail safety following a recent spate of   
   fiery train derailments.	   
      
      
   Federal Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair criticized previous governments   
   for allowing rail companies to police their own safety and called on   
   Ottawa to take a more active role in doing that job.   
      
   "We shouldn't have to rely on our luck to protect us," he said,   
   referring to the latest train derailment, which occurred Tuesday near   
   the village of Plaster Rock, N.B. No one was hurt.   
      
   Mulcair said municipalities must be warned when trains carrying   
   hazardous materials are going through their communities.   
      
   To do that, he added, the Conservative government must work with   
   municipalities.  But he said the government doesn’t know how to work   
   with them.   
      
   Mulcair pointed out transportation of crude oil by rail and pipeline can   
   be done safely but it needs to be done right.   
      
   He suggested the government follow the American lead and introduce a new   
   generation of tanker rail cars that would replace the inadequate Dot 111   
   cars. He also said new braking systems are needed.   
      
   But most importantly, Mulcair said the government needs to make sure all   
   of this is happening.   
      
   “Put in place the requirements and enforce them on behalf of the   
   public,” he said. “The time for excuses is over. Now is the time to act.”   
      
   The cause of the New Brunswick derailment has yet to be determined, but   
   fire from exploding fuel tankers is becoming an uncomfortably familiar   
   scene.   
      
   On July 6 last year, a freight train carrying fuel tanks loaded with   
   crude oil from the Bakken field in North Dakota rolled out of control   
   into the centre of Lac Mégantic, Que. The ensuing explosions and fire   
   destroyed the downtown and killed 47 people.   
      
   In October, an explosive derailment happened near Gainford, Alta. About   
   100 people were forced to leave their homes.   
      
   And on Dec. 30, a series of train cars carrying Bakken crude oil   
   exploded outside Casselton, N.D., when they went off the tracks.   
      
   Two and a half weeks after the Lac-Megantic derailment, Transport Canada   
   issued an emergency directive requiring two operators to be on all   
   trains with tank cars carrying dangerous materials. It also prohibited   
   similar trains from being left unattended on main lines.   
      
   The emergency directive expired at the end of 2013, but was renewed on   
   Jan. 1 for all rail companies that are not members of the Railway   
   Association of Canada. That's because the RAC submitted new operating   
   rules in November. Non-RAC members have until March to do the same.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)