Sue CN for damages after oil spill, MPP France Gelinas petitions Ontario

Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas says the province isn't doing enough to hold CN Rail responsible for two major train derailments in her riding last winter.

Last week, CN was handed a $350,000 bill for the province's help in cleaning up two derailment sites near Gogama.

The Liberal government said it's holding CN accountable for its actions — but Gelinas told CBC News the province should go one step further, and sue CN for damages done to the community.

"The part that we haven't seen is, what is the penalty for the damage that they have caused? Right now they are paying for the work that has been done by different players to restore the site," she said, adding the people of Gogama don't have the money or resources to sue CN.

"[The community] depends on hunters and anglers for their survival, and on tourists. Right now, it doesn't matter where you go, when you say 'Gogama' people associate it with an environmental disaster."

More than a million litres of oil spilled onto the ground and into nearby waterways last winter.

Gelinas said compensation needs to be made for "damages to the community, the value of the properties of the people who live there, the trauma that the people of Gogama have had to live through."

But Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault, who is the parliamentary assistant to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said legal action isn't currently being considered.

"CN, so far, has done everything that we've asked when it comes to the strong action that we were expecting for the cleanup of this spill," Thibeault said.

"You never say no to anything, but right now we're just continuing to move forward with this demand for repayment under section 99 of the EPA."

Meanwhile, a spokeperson for CN said the railway company is reviewing the $350,000 bill it just received.