QP Live: When charges were laid after Lac-Mégantic
Your daily dose of political theatre
First responders fight burning trains after a train derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec early July 6, 2013, in this picture provided by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The driverless, runaway fuel train that exploded in a deadly ball of flames in the center of the small Quebec town started rumbling down an empty track just minutes after a fire crew had extinguished a blaze in one of its parked locomotives, an eyewitness said on July 8, 2013.
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Ten months after the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, Quebec prosecutors laid charges against three employees of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway—as well as the company itself—face 47 counts of criminal negligence. Yesterday, Via Rail committed to a $10-million repair job on a stretch of east-coast railway. Those developments could thrust safety on the tracks, as well as service levels for prospective passengers, into the Question Period spotlight. But the opposition won’t easily be wrenched from the temporary foreign workers file, where they think alleged abuse of federal programs has the government on the ropes.
Maclean’s is your home for the daily political theatre that is Question Period. If you’ve never watched, check out our primer. Today, QP runs from 2:15 p.m. until just past 3. We livestream and liveblog all the action.