Sept. 18, 2018 – The City fully understands Fort William First Nation’s (FWFN) frustration and thus their continued efforts to have CN reopen the James Street Bridge.  Over the past four years the City has sought to have CN Railway honour its commitments under the 1906 agreement to repair and reopen their bridge.  CN Railway has submitted a request for leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision that ordered that they reopen their bridge to the Supreme Court of Canada.  The City will vigorously defend any legal tactics presented by CN.

FWFN will be meeting with a vendor today to advance a concept they previously submitted to CN for review.  The City has not received any information from CN Railway with respect to this concept. 

Mayor Keith Hobbs today made the following statement in response:

“In 2011, the City declared its commitment to work collaboratively with FWFN on outstanding issues that are to our mutual benefit. The reopening of CN’s James Street Bridge fits squarely within what is a ‘mutual benefit’ to both of our communities. We are confident in the decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled in favour of the City in June of 2018 and ordered CN to reopen its bridge to all traffic including cars and trucks.  The Court of Appeal was clear in its ruling, CN is fully responsible for their bridge and it is up to CN to determine what repairs or upgrades are required to reopen it.  Thunder Bay and Fort William First Nation have been impacted for far too long.  This bridge is an important connection between our communities.  We call upon CN to do the right thing and fix their bridge.”

 

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Contact: Stacey Levanen, Supervisor – Corporate Communications, 625-3650