Rail safety tops agenda as transportation ministers meet in Winnipeg

Provincial transportation ministers met with their federal counterpart Wednesday for the first time since July’s rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Que.

Going into the meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Steve Ashton promised rail safety would be at the top of the agenda.

“Forty-seven people lost their lives. We can do a heck of a lot better as Canadians, in terms of rail safety,” said Ashton.

Ashton said provinces and municipalities would like to see greater transparency about the movements of hazardous goods in their jurisdictions.

To this point the federal government has not committed to providing that transparency.

“You know, there's an opportunity for everyone to share their experiences and talk about certain things that are important to them,” said Federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt.

Even as the ministers meeting was getting underway there was news of another train derailment.

This time 17 rail cars carrying crude oil, ethanol and other chemicals jumped the tracks in Saskatchewan.

There were no reports of injuries in the latest incident.