Pam Fraser, mother of one of the men killed in the CP rail accident.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Family members of railway workers who were killed in a derailment in 2019 and opposition MPs are pushing Ottawa to act quickly to adopt recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board’s recent investigation into the crash.
The board released its report on the Canadian Pacific Railway incident on March 31, after a three-year investigation, outlining its findings and three new safety recommendations.
The report urged Ottawa to improve testing requirements for brakes on freight cars that operate in cold and steep conditions. It said CP Rail should install automatic parking brakes on freight cars, and demonstrate that its safety management system identifies and mitigates risks.
On Feb. 4, 2019, a 112-car grain train sped out of control on the steep Field Hill track near Field, B.C., plummeting off a bridge and into Kicking Horse River. Three railway workers in the lead locomotive – conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer – died in the accident.
Pam Fraser, Mr. Paradis’s mother, said she’s concerned the government won’t adopt the recommendations. The Transport department has 90 days to respond to the report, but it is not binding.
“I’m fighting for my son. It’s unbearable to think that such a thing can happen and there’s no accountability. I can’t live with that,” she said.
Transport Canada said it is carefully reviewing the three recommendations.
Pam Fraser said she’s concerned the government won’t adopt the recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board’s recent investigation.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
According to the report, poor conditions of the train’s old brake cylinders were made worse by exposure to cold, contributing to the fatal derailment.
The RCMP is also investigating.
After the release of the Transportation Safety Board’s findings, CP Rail issued a statement on its website saying the TSB misrepresented and misunderstood key facts about the incident. CP denied that it failed to properly address systemic safety hazards or that the train had poor braking performance.
“As confirmed in the report, the train involved in the incident was fully functional, met all industry standards and passed all regulatory brake test inspections,” the statement said.
The company’s response to the report has been a “slap in the face,” said Heather Dockrell, whose brother was killed in the accident. She and her spouse, Paul Eyles, are former employees of CP Rail.
“Safety procedures need to be put in place not as a recommendation, but as an enforcement,” said Mr. Eyles, who retired as a locomotive engineer in 2017. “The company should have no choice but to implement them.” He added that he doesn’t feel the government has been doing enough to keep railway workers safe.
“If we don’t fight back, if we don’t do it, no one else is going to do it, and nothing’s going to change,” Ms. Dockrell said.
NDP transport critic Taylor Bachrach said he would like the recommendations implemented immediately, calling it an “urgent issue.”
“We keep having these independent watchdogs putting out reports with recommendations, and what we don’t see is the federal government taking concerted and decisive actions to significantly improve the approach to rail safety,” he said.
Mr. Bachrach said he’s heard from many railway workers and their families who want a more pro-active approach to rail safety.
“There’s lives on the line, and there are a lot of people who are depending on [Ottawa] to make the right changes,” he said.
Conservative transport critic Melissa Lantsman said the government has ignored warnings to address rail safety issues. She urged the government to take the board’s investigation seriously.
Last April, the families of Mr. Dockrell and Mr. Paradis filed lawsuits alleging negligence against Canadian Pacific, its chief executive officer, board of directors and CP police, as well as TSB officials and the federal Minister of Transport.
A statement of defence filed by the company denied any wrongdoing, calling the legal actions an abuse of process.
“For CPR to categorically denounce and deny everything that the TSB has found – all of their concerns, all of their recommendations – it’s like another knife in my heart,” Ms. Fraser said.
With a report from The Canadian Press
For subscribers: Get exclusive political news and analysis by signing up for the Politics Briefing.