CN and Thunder Bay head to court over James St. bridge

Superior Morning4:39James Street Bridge - The Lawsuit

The city of Thunder Bay says it's taking CN Rail to court. We'll hear why city officials rejected the railways final offer to open the bridge, and what happens now.The city of Thunder Bay is taking CN Rail to court.

At Monday night's meeting, council voted unanimously to reject the railway's final offer to re-open the James St. Swing Bridge.

Council had met behind closed doors to discuss the offer.

The city said CN proposed to re-open the bridge, but permanently limit traffic flow to one-way.

In return, the city would have to surrender its 1906 agreement with the railway, and Fort William First Nation would have to give up current and future land claims rights.

“It was a bad offer by CN, made in bad faith. It was totally unacceptable,” Mayor Keith Hobbs said.

“We're going to go to court and have a judge make a ruling on the validity of the contract.”

More delays

The city will now seek confirmation that the century-old agreement requires the railway to maintain the bridge in perpetuity.

City manager Tim Commisso said going to court will further delay re-opening the bridge to vehicles.

“My view is, this is going to take probably as much time as it's taken since the fire,” he said.

“[It] depends on how this process unfolds, but it's not going to be anything soon.”

Neither Commisso nor mayor Hobbs would speculate on how much a court challenge could cost the city — only that, at this point, the cost is "manageable," and there are contingencies for legal expenses.

Hobbs says he will speak to Fort William First Nation leaders about sharing legal costs.

He also said he'll take this issue to a variety of conferences and municipal bodies, such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

"These offers have just gone from bad to worse. We're just going to have a judge decide this now."

Hobbs noted listening to CN's offers and meeting with them was part of the city's due diligence on the issue “and you have to exhaust every avenue before you take that step [of going to court].”

Commisso said council looked over a very detailed report from the city solicitor prior to making this decision.

The city and CN have gone back and forth a number of times since CN made the offer Dec. 19, 2014.

Bridge could stay closed

The James Street swing bridge was heavily damaged by fire in October 2013 — the cause of which is still unknown and is being investigated by Ontario Fire Marshal's office.

The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since the fire. CN reopened the bridge to rail traffic two days after the fire.

According to the city, the latest proposal says CN and the government of Canada have offered up to $3 million towards construction. But the city says it can't confirm that the construction will be under $3 million and that it won’t cost the city more. Part of the issue is that the city says it doesn't have access to the railway's engineering reports to make that determination.

City officials say CN's offer isn't a viable, long-term solution for vehicle traffic and attempts to transfer liability and responsibility for maintenance from the railway to the city.

No matter what a judge decides, the outcome will be a challenge for the city, Commissio said.

"This is CN's bridge. If, at the end of the day, [a judge issues a] favourable ruling to the city, then we have to come back to council and say 'OK, how do you want to proceed?’ If it's not, CN basically has the ability to essentially say the bridge is closed."