Could Foreign-Owned Private Police Come Knocking at U.S. Doors? They May Already Have.
Cross-Border Private Railroad Police Target Canadian Activist Protecting Environment and Public Safety
In a letter to the Canadian Transportation Agency president, Robert Bellefleur, spokesperson for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic, continues his plea for a rail bypass circumventing the downtown area, “Despite repeated and sustained requests from the residents of Lac-Mégantic since 2013 and the promises of the Prime Ministers of Canada and Quebec and the last seven Ministers of Transport Canada, this bypass project has been stalled for far too long.” Bellefleur conducted research uncovering an historic total of 140 train-related deaths and injuries in his 6,000-resident municipality. He says, despite repeated tragedy, there are still no safety barriers installed within the limits of Lac-Mégantic and claims the four-to-six 225-tanker CPKC ‘bomb’ trains rolling through town are daily triggers of post-traumatic stress.
Americans can certainly relate to delays caused by blocked railroad crossings referenced by Bellefleur. Communities along the EJ&E Railroad—the workhorse of Lake County—suffer up to 40 freight trains a day as long as 2 1/2 miles as they transport hazardous cargo through residential areas including Barrington, Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods, Mundelein, Vernon Hills, and Libertyville. If Lac-Mégantic residents find less than ten freight trains unsettling, how much more should residents of Lake County be leery of 40?
In return for his activism, Bellefleur was recently visited by two “armed” CPKC railroad police and fined nearly $700 by the Quebec Crown prosecutor's office. A spokesperson from the office says, “In general, a defendant who pays a fine in full is considered to have entered a guilty plea.” Bellefleur contends the fine was less burdensome than hiring an attorney to defend his innocence. Private railway police operate cross-border into the United States. Corporate headquarters for CN railroad police patrolling the EJ&E are located in Montreal, Quebec.
Canadian Attorney Tavengwa Runyowa finds this problematic. Our United States government will soon be served with a court application raising concerns that private executives of railroad companies based abroad have exercised police powers in the United States for decades. Runyowa hopes, “…the current [U.S.] leadership may be keen to learn how long CPKC and CN's apparent violation of Americans’ sovereignty, civil rights, privacy, and national security have persisted. After all, who could ignore such massive cross-border trespass by two large corporations that the American public did not elect?”
Runyowa warns, “This court proceeding is just the tip of a gigantic abscess. Will America’s leaders take an interest in lancing it to expose the deeply rooted infection? At a minimum, participating in the Canadian legal proceedings should be one of the necessary steps to protect the United States’ interests and its citizens' data that these companies have historically held outside the country.”
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Before Lac-Mégantic’s tragedy and Bellefleur’s experience become our own, please contact your Congresspersons today and demand common-sense rail safety measures along with public control over railroad police.
Legal documents filed by Runyowa:
