CP rail is considering running freight trains along the arbutus corridor again, after a decade of no activity. This would affect citizens who enjoy walking and biking along the currently vacant tracks. There are also hundreds of community gardens along the tracks stretching from false creek to the Fraser River, all of which would be bulldozed in order to make the tracks operational. CP has been upset with the city of Vancouver, after talks to buy the land broke down. Vancouver wants the land for the use of parks and other community initiatives. In order to get talks going again, CP is using bully tactics by bulldozing current community gardens along the line, and threatening to use the tracks to store rail cars. CP’s vice-president of corporate affairs, Mark Wallace, stated, “We’re actually going to sweat the asset and put it to use”. CP wants to sell the land for 100 million, while the city feels like the land is worth less than that. The tactics used by CP strike me as non-ethical as the company is using citizen’s anger to force the city of Vancouver to make a deal. A company is ethical when they take into account the views of all stakeholders, and in this case CP is not. The fact that CP really doesn’t need to use the track also shows the extent the company is going to for money. They are willing to change people’s way of life, instead of just going to the bargaining table with the city. Sometimes companies need to look at what impacts their decisions will have on the community, rather then their chequebook.
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