The Columbia & Western Rail Corridor in BC's southern interior has long been a magnet for adventure-loving tourists and locals alike, but its impact on the region goes far deeper. Running from Midway to Castlegar, it also serves as a major transportation route, with many relying on it to access their rural properties.That is all now at risk due to moves made by the government of British Columbia.When officials removed a 67 km segment between Castlegar and Christina Lake from the Recreational Trail System in 2020 due to "challenging terrain, multiple competing users, and the complex infrastructure," locals were assured that access and upkeep would not be affected.In June 2025, that promise was broken as the government admitted "there is no preventative maintenance being conducted on the CWRT and there is no funding available for maintenance of the rail grade." They added that as such, the rail grade is "currently being managed to a wilderness status.""The Columbia & Western corridor is a vital tourism and economic asset supported by local communities, regional governments, businesses, and First Nations — including the Osoyoos Indian Band, which has formally endorsed the corridor’s development," Columbia and Western Community Society President Jeremy Nelson said. "Its closure undermines tourism revenue, disrupts community connectivity, harms Indigenous and rural economic development, and blocks property owners from reaching their homes — outcomes rooted in unresolved issues within a federal regulatory process.".The former rail corridor traces a route once operated by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. It was acquired by the Trans Canada Trail Foundation in 1999, then donated to the government of British Columbia in 2004 under questionable legal circumstances. After being managed by Tourism BC for six years, the responsibility was shifted to the Ministry of Forests' Recreation Sites and Trails Branch.Since learning about the closure, a number of people and groups from across the province have called on the BC government to take action. With little success, some decided to take their fight all the way to the top — to Ottawa.Among them is Nelson. On Tuesday, he and his crew arrived in the nation's capital — with the support of the Osoyoos Indian Band — to lobby the federal government to intervene and protect the corridor.Before embarking on his journey east, Nelson told the Western Standard he'd like to see the feds establish a statutory right-of-way for public-works purposes — which would immediately reverse the course taken by the province — and conduct an examination of the aforementioned changing of hands to ensure proper procedures were followed.This action would immediately restore access for property owners and preserve the corridor’s tourism and economic functions.."Although the province currently manages the corridor, the access problems and land-title irregularities arise directly from the federal rail abandonment process, which is a federal regulatory process governed by federal legislation," Nelson wrote in a letter to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon. Nelson pointed out that in addition, "the transfer of the corridor from CPR to a private non-profit entity occurred under federal jurisdiction, contrary to federal regulatory laws and requirements" and that "CPR received a federal tax credit, making the transaction directly tied to federal oversight.""The failure to follow federal abandonment law, rules and regulations," he added, "resulted in the extinguishment of long-standing access rights and the disruption of an important tourism and economic asset."Nelson went on to note that a review of the process had raised a number of red flags."A federal announcement described CPR's disposition of the corridor as a 'donation,' although CPR received a $4.5 million federal tax credit," he wrote, labelling it "a disposal of liabilities, not a donation."Nelson then noted that the move was not in compliance with the 1987 National Transportation Act."Federal abandonment rules prohibited CPR from alienating lands taken under section 134 of the Railway Act unless the corridor was transferred directly to the Crown," Nelson explained. "Instead, CPR transferred the lands to the Trans Canada Trail Foundation, a private non-profit — contrary to federal rules, regulations, and laws."He emphasized that the federal government — not CPR, was to blame for those alleged mistakes..Nelson then turned his attention to the Trans Canada Trail Foundation, noting that "officials have confirmed that TCT had no legal capacity to hold land assets," which "rais[es] serious concerns about the validity of the original transfer and the federal tax-credit arrangement and the actual registration at Land Titles office.""Land title records show an unexplained registration and re-registration in 2001 and a later transfer from TCT to Tourism BC, despite documentation indicating the TCT was not legally permitted by the Federal Government to 'give away' land," he continued. "Because federal requirements for transfer directly to the Crown were not followed, adjacent property owners lost their long-standing access rights under BC’s Easement of Necessity doctrine — leading directly to today's crisis."Nelson argued that if a federal review is undertaken, it should determine "whether the transfers complied with the National Transportation Act, whether TCT had legal capacity to receive or convey the lands, whether subsequent provincial transfers were valid, and what corrective actions are needed to restore public and private rights."
