Is Canada some third world country where people can break the law and nobody seems to notice? Can a business knowingly break the law and kill Canadian citizens? When a train rolled free into Lac-Mégantic last year and killed some 47 residents of that picturesque Québéc town, it seems the investigation into the incident has been derailed as destructively as the train.
What has the Transportation Safety Board told us? First, this authority came to the obvious conclusion that a train should not be left unattended on a grade on a main line. Secondly, it noted that a train carrying dangerous goods should not be left unattended. Finally, it noted that the train’s documentation for its tanker cars was inaccurate. Highly volatile oil was classified incorrectly.
While you can classify the first two findings as dealing with stupidity for which a manslaughter charge might be laid, the third finding was a clear violation of federal law. That is murder.
You need not be a lawyer to understand that if you break the law and people die because of your action, it is murder. And the law in this circumstance is surprisingly clear. Under Canada’s Transport of Dangerous Goods Regulations, it is stated that if you do not know the characteristics of flammable goods you are shipping, you are required to classify them in the “most hazardous flammable category.”
The rail cars that rolled into Lac-Mégantic were filled with crude oil from the Bakken shale formation that covers about 520,000 square kilometres in Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. These cars were believed to be loaded in North Dakota. The cars were not designed for shipping that grade of highly flammable crude oil and the oil was improperly described on the bill of lading. The individual who authorized the shipment was therefore the logical person to charge with murder. If the person is resident in the United States, extradition should not be a problem.
While nobody expects our oil-loving federal government to take much action, we do have a right to expect the Sûréte du Québec to act officially in this regard. Is an arrest imminent?
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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