18 August 2006
Opinion: Getting CP's Attention
Minot North Dakota USA - Minot residents affected by the
2002 Canadian Pacific Railway train derailment have good reason to be angry and frustrated. They're planning to fight back by staging a
peaceful, day-long protest in front of the railroad's Minneapolis headquarters on Monday.
It's a step they really shouldn't have to take, but they have no choice. Most victims been unable to have their voices heard in court,
since the cases filed against CP have been remanded to the United State Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Cases have stalled since CP
attorneys argued the railroad was exempt from prosecution under a 1970 law. Victims are waiting for the Eighth Circuit Court to make a
decision regarding jurisdiction before any cases can go forward.
The planned rally is intended to be a peaceful, constructive rally, and we have every confidence that it will be exactly that. The
residents aren't going to Minneapolis to get arrested or to cause problems. That isn't how Minoters do things. But the victims do want
to be heard, to put a face on the disaster and to let officials at CP know they aren't going away, even as the company tries to slow
the legal proceedings to a halt.
The rally isn't likely to make a real difference in the actual legal process, but that's really not the point. By staging their rally,
residents will remind the railroad that there are real people involved in this accident, not just faceless case numbers. The railroad
would do well to remember that.
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