WHEREAS the safety and security of livestock owners in B.C. whose grazing lands run adjacent to publicly owned rail corridors is of utmost importance; AND WHEREAS that safety and security is at risk from factors including inadequate fencing and rail crossings, inadequate invasive plant management, and inadequate notification and compensation for livestock that have been struck by trains: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities encourage the provincial government to support Bill M202 British Columbia Rail Corridor Safety Act, 2008.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Private Members Bill M202 is intended to apply to all publicly owned rail corridors in BC. This would preclude corridors owned by CP, CN, BNSF, shortlines, the Island Corridor Foundation, and privately operated industrial trackage. CN, which operates the BC Rail-owned line, is a federal railway. Federal railways are subject to federal jurisdiction the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act, are inspected by federal inspectors and are not subject to any provincial laws or regulations with the exception of taxation-related legislation e.g., property taxes, fuel taxes, sales taxes, capital taxes where the provinces have a federally-granted jurisdiction. The Province agrees that B.C. ranchers, their families and their communities deserve a prompt response to concerns about the safety of livestock near railways, and Minister Falcon has written to the federal Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, about the pressing need for federal regulations. The matter was also brought to the attention of the Railway Safety Act Review Panel through the ministrys submission to the Panel. Its very clear, however, that the federal government has jurisdiction here. Unlike provincial highways, which fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial government, the operation and maintenance of the railway right-of-way covered by the BC Rail Investment Partnership falls under federal jurisdiction. CN falls under federal jurisdiction; therefore, federal fencing regulations will apply to them, even though the Province owns the land on which they operate the railway. The Ministry has strongly encouraged the federal government to give this important safety and economic issue the consideration and priority it requires.