White Rock bylaw officers have been told to stay clear of the train tracks along the city’s waterfront.
While the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway lies within the municipality’s jurisdiction, the railway itself is private property, notes a letter to White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin from the Ministry of Justice.
“There is no authority for a municipal government to enforce their bylaws outside the local government nor can bylaw officers enforce federal statutes or act as enforcement agents on private railway land outside of the municipality,” Perry Clark, the ministry’s executive director of policing, security, and law enforcement and infrastructure finance, writes in the letter dated Dec. 3.
The letter – which was discussed during the correspondence portion of Monday’s council meeting – follows a city delegation with the ministry last September raising concerns over increased rail traffic and the challenge of ensuring beach visitors use designated crossings, rather than trespassing on rail lands.
“The response has come back that they’re not going to give us any permission for bylaw enforcement officers to do any enforcement on private property, and that the RCMP can do it if it falls within the operational jurisdiction of the city,” Baldwin said. “At this point in time, there is nothing further we can do.”
In B.C., the Canadian National (CN) Police Service and the Canadian Pacific (CP) Police Service are “unique police forces responsible for providing policing and law enforcement to the property owned” by respective railway companies, Clark writes.
As a result of the response, the city is planning to meet with CN police.
“We’ll try to put forward our case that they should pay a little more attention to (the tracks) if the Ministry of Transportation deems it to be such a hazardous area,” Baldwin said. “Perhaps it should receive a bit more time than it does now.”
However, BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas told Peace Arch News Tuesday that the area is patrolled regularly.
“BNSF owns the right of way and we commission with CN Police to patrol our property and take necessary action for trespassing and crime against BNSF resources,” Melonas said. “We use their services 24/7.”
Melonas added that the patrols include walking, riding in trains and high-rail vehicle patrol.
“The goal is to protect the railroad and the safety of the public… through this corridor,” he said.
Railway safety has been at the forefront in White Rock since July 2013, when a jogger was killed on East Beach tracks a week after a devastating derailment in Quebec.