CN Police to patrol area on new snowmobile

News Release

CN Police in Fort Frances have acquired a new snowmobile to help them stop snowmobilers from the dangerous practice of trespassing on railway property.
CN Constable Peter LeDrew said ”Anyone who illegally enters railway property with a snowmobile not only risk serious injuries or worse but also endangers the safety of railway employers. It’s a dangerous decision.”
“We have a zero tolerance policy regarding trespassing, and we will enforce the law to its fullest extent,” said LeDrew.
The new CN snowmobile, equipped with red emergency lights and CN Police blue and red striping and logo on the sides, will permit LeDrew to patrol difficult to reach areas of the railway that are illegally used by snowmobilers.
Trespassing on CN property remains a problem for CN Police, particularly in the Fort Frances area where, since January of this year, police have charged 59 people and issued verbal warnings to 138 other. With the onset of winter, snowmobilers aggravate the problem. Penalties for trespassing include fines ranging from $70 to $5000 and up to two years in jail.
LeDrew will tackle trespassing in cooperation with the local OPP snowmobile patrol and the Sunset Country Snowmobile Club in Fort Frances, patrolling the Fort Frances, Atikokan, Rainy River, and Sioux Lookout areas.
It is illegal for snowmobiles to travel along the railway right-of-way in Fort Frances, and the tracks can only be crossed at designated crossings at McIrvine Road, Williams Avenue, and Portage Avenue. The machines are not permitted anywhere in the Fort Frances Yard on Fifth Street. Train crews switch throughout the day and night, and may not see or hear a snowmobile until it is too late.
CN Police have all the powers of OPP and RCMP police officers and charge trespassers under the Ontario Trespass to Property Act, the Canada Transportation Act, or the Fort Frances By-Law #66-90.
Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, BC, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala, and the key cities of Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.