OTTAWA (Reuters) – Governments should require companies shipping crude oil by rail to carry enough liability insurance to make up for shortfalls in coverage carried by railways, the president of Canada's second-largest rail operator said on Thursday.
Currently, there are no requirements in Canada for shippers of oil and other dangerous cargo to carry liability insurance against accidents, Keith Creel, president and chief operating officer of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd , said after testifying to the House of Commons' transport committee.
The panel was examining the adequacy of Canada's transportation safety regime after a series of North American rail derailments and crashes involving shipments of crude oil, including a horrific accident last July that destroyed the center of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people.
The accident also exhausted the insurance of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, the small railway responsible, which threw it into bankruptcy protection, leaving federal and provincial governments to cover the rest of the recovery costs.
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