Pro-Palestine protestors try to block rail line in Regina

A couple dozen people gathered near the rail overpass at Saskatchewan Drive and Albert Street on Wednesday morning to call for an extended ceasefire in Gaza.

A few of them went on the tracks, trying to stop a CP Rail train. Just after 3 p.m., a train slowly moved down the tracks blowing its horn as police officers moved protestors off the tracks.

“We’re here gathered as community members who are fed up and sickened by what’s going on in Israel, (and what’s) happening to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” said Mandla Mthembu, one of the protestors.

Pro-Palestine protestors gathered near the overpass on Saskatchewan Drive and Albert Street on Nov. 29, 2023. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

In addition to an extended ceasefire, the group also was calling for the federal and provincial governments to divest from Israel.

Mthembu said the governments of Saskatchewan and Canada are complicit in what the protestors called the genocide of the Palestinians.

Throughout the day, the group was met with honks from passing drivers in support.

“We’re just saying enough is enough. If our voices aren’t enough, then we’ll put our bodies on the tracks and we’ll advocate with our actions,” Mthembu said.

At least one person was taken away from the tracks by officers from the Regina Police Service (RPS) and CP Rail Police, but witnesses say four or five others were arrested as well. 980 CJME has reached out to both the RPS and CP Rail for confirmation.

In an e-mailed statement, the RPS said the issue is under the jurisdiction of CP Rail but Regina police assists with transport or arrests.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, CP Rail said it was monitoring the situation but wasn’t able to provide any update or information as to whether people had been arrested or not.

In a statement sent out after 4 p.m., the RPS confirmed that it had assisted CP Rail in making arrests, but said no one was taken into RPS custody.

“The rail line is the jurisdiction of CP Rail Police and, as such, all arrests and subsequent tickets issued/charges laid were made by the CP Rail Police under the Railway Safety Act,” the statement read.

The RPS also said that any further inquiries should be made to CP Rail.

“The Regina Police Service acknowledges citizen’s rights to peaceful protest,” the statement read. “The job of our officers is to ensure the safety of those in the area and keep the public peace.”

Mthembu said the protestors were committed to their cause.

“We stand very firmly on the side of peace and the side of ending this genocide and the killing of the Palestinians,” Mthembu said.

More than 14,800 people have been killed in Gaza according to its Ministry of Health.

Pro-Palestine protestors gathered near the overpass on Saskatchewan Drive and Albert Street on Nov. 29, 2023. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)