Blockades by anti-Israel protesters have led the Canadian National Railway to lose millions of dollars and suffer “irreparable harm,” say courts in three provinces.
“I would have no difficulty in concluding that blockades of Canadian National Railway lines in New Brunswick would amount to irreparable harm to CN,“ wrote Justice Robert Dysart of the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter. “It would amount to an unlawful trespass on CN’s property.”
Railway lawyers in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick have applied for injunctions to clear “Shut Down for Palestine” protesters from the tracks. Justice Dysart said while the protesters did not “appear to have any centralized leadership,” they organized rail blockades through a Facebook page “Good Trouble Network YQR,” as well as U.S. website ShutItDown4Palestine.Org and various community groups like the Winnipeg chapter of Queers for Palestine.
“Individuals are calling upon others across Canada to join in their efforts and take actions including blockades of CN Railway lines in an effort to impact the economy and specifically companies which they associate with being economically tied to Israel,” wrote Justice Dysart.
CN lawyers have claimed losses of some $55 million from a brief Nov. 20 protest in Winnipeg that resulted in a three-day backlog of transcontinental freight traffic. A Nov. 29 blockade in Regina prompted the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench to issue an injunction. Ontario Superior Court issued a similar injunction Dec. 4, noting CN lines in the province carried $350 million worth of freight daily.
“Blockades on rail lines cause significant economic damage to CN, its customers and others,” wrote Ontario Justice Gina Papageorgiou. “The resulting impact on CN operations causes irreparable harm.”
Past Blockade
In 2022, the federal government used fears of potential rail blockades by anti-vaccine mandate trucker convoys as justification for invoking the Emergencies Act against political protesters, despite no evidence that demonstrators had done so.“Threats were made to block railway lines which would result in significant disruptions,” said an April 23, 2022, briefing note by the Department of Justice. “The result of a railway blockade would be significant. Canada’s freight rail industry transports more than $310 billion worth of goods each year on a network that runs from coast to coast.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also cited economic harm as a rationale for invoking the Emergencies Act in response to the trucker protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions, telling a June 14, 2022, hearing of a Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency that “It was clear there were damages every day.”
When asked by Senator Claude Carignan if she had data on the economic impact of the border blockade, Ms. Freeland replied, “I have many figures in my head.”
“Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner, as a reliable investment destination, as a country with peace, order and good government, as a country with stable and effective political institutions – these are some of the most precious things we have,” said Ms. Freeland.
“The economic impacts were absolutely clearly there,” Ms. Freeland said. “The economic impact of actual trade which was blocked and the ongoing future economic impact, the harm done to our reputation.”
