The July 6, 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster is a tragedy unparalleled in
Canadian history. It resulted in major loss of life, massive
environmental destruction and the evisceration of a small Quebec town.
Blame landed squarely on the shoulders of three front-line employees of
the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway Company. But a jury acquitted
them.
Lac-Mégantic is the story of a rail industry writing its own rules, a
booming US oil industry based on fracking, fighting any obstacles to
selling their dangerous product, and a rogue US railway operator cutting
corners to make his fortune.
At another level the story is about a federal government blinded by its
own free market ideology, fixated on making Canada an energy superpower,
and compliant bureaucrats failing to protect the public interest.
At the heart of it all is a small, tight-knit community torn apart and
struggling to recover. There is unimaginable loss, broken lives and
families, and individual and collective trauma. But there is also
healing, solidarity, commemoration, remembrance, and the determination
to rebuild and transcend.
This book uncovers the truth about Lac-Mégantic. It includes first
person interviews with many of the key players, analysis of the
corporate executives and the companies involved, an examination of the
complex world of transport safety regulation in Canada, and an account
of the trials of the three accused.
