Canada's Transport Minister comments on the rail blockade, recently broken up by police:
- Canada' is "many, many weeks" away from a return to normal for freight-rail traffic
- the blockade has "definitely slowed things down"
- "There is an inertia in the system. There have been companies that have virtually stopped their operations. There are 50 ships on the Pacific Coast waiting to pick up grain."
Piece in the Wall Street Journal, link may be gated
More from the Journal:
- Economists on Wednesday said the blockades' effects would subtract from growth in the first quarter of 2020, citing data that indicated a sharp 7.4% decline in Canadian freight-rail traffic in February compared with the previous month. One economist, Derek Holt of Bank of Nova Scotia, predicted the Bank of Canada would cut its main interest rate next week because of the damage from the rail blockades and the coronavirus epidemic.
Ain't no one happy with rail blockages
