About seven months ago, a flood washed out the sole rail connection to Churchill, Man. That connection allowed resources to travel north (including fuel and food) and people to travel south (including those with doctors’ appointments). In the intervening nine months, OmniTRAX, the company that operates the railroads, has argued that responsibility for replacing the line rests with the federal government, saying it is a proviso of the constitution. The Prime Minister’s Office counterclaims that legislation under NAFTA requires OmniTRAX to repair those same lines. On October 13, the federal government gave OmniTRAX 30 days to replace the tracks. Months after that ultimatum, the rail has yet to be replaced or repaired.
From the very beginning, Churchill has been caught in a mess of railroad and challenging construction hurdles. The first railroad was built over a 50-year period, beginning in the late 1880s, with the station finally finished in 1929. The landscape, with rocky outcroppings and spongy muskegs, explains some of this extended timeline. (With global climate change, much of the permafrost has become boggier, exacerbating the already unstable muskeg.)
For almost 80 years, the railroad has not only provided a material connection to the rest of Canada, it has helped provide an identity for northern Manitoba communities. Being caught between the government and large corporations makes the delivery of goods and services impossible, and further isolates these towns.
Bishop William G. Cliff, of the diocese of Brandon, sees this as a pastoral emergency. His congregants are in obvious distress. Speaking to him, he is understandably frustrated by this seemingly intractable fight. Cliff wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau in September, asking the federal government to “get on with it.” He received a note back in October, with vague reassurances of a forthcoming solution. The note was the last time he heard from the office. Cliff sees no solution but to build the line.
There are companies willing to build the line, both in a larger financing sense, and with workers on the ground. The multi-national rail conglomerate Fairfax has shown some interest in possibly building those lines, for example. The holdup is due to the ongoing battles between OmniTRAX and the federal government. Bishop Cliff tells us that he has “no inside information—I am on the outside, banging my fist, wanting to be let in.”
The metaphor of wanting to be let in is a poignant one. The challenges of those who live in the North are often poorly understood, and people feel caught under heel. But there is some hope, given that communities like Churchill have fierce advocates with clergy like Bishop Cliff.