One Sunday in early July, train cars derailed in the middle of a residential neighbourhood in Repentigny, Quebec. No one was injured, but the scene took Robert Bellefleur back 13 years to the explosion that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic.

“Repentigny narrowly avoided disaster,” says the activist. As a report released after the accident reveals shortcomings in rail maintenance, The North Star spoke with the man who denounces “the power of the railroad companies.”