Ottawa Ontario - Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau has closed the door on the idea of a public inquiry to shed light on the Lake Megantic rail tragedy.
 
Garneau accused the Bloc Quebecois, the New Democratic Party, and the Green Party, who are calling for an inquiry, of spreading conspiracy theories by suggesting there are still some elements to be uncovered.
 
"There is nothing left to discover," Garneau said Tuesday.
 
The minister said the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) already undertook a comprehensive investigation and released a report after the derailment and explosion that destroyed downtown Lake Megantic in July 2013.
 
"I think the Lake Megantic citizens want to move on now," Garneau responded.
 
"It has been six years, they want to look to the future. That's why we're setting up a bypass."
 
At a press conference earlier in the day, Bloc MP Monique Pauze said the TSB's report was "softened" or "watered down" because there was pressure from industry.
 
Pauze said she drew that conclusion after reading investigative books by Anne-Marie St-Cernay and Bruce Campbell.
 
Pauze, New Democrat Robert Aubin, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, said the pre-election period is appropriate for parties to commit to holding an inquiry.
 
Pauze is to table a petition this week.
 
The federal elected officials were accompanied by the Coalition of Citizens for Railway Security in Lake Megantic.
 
The coalition's spokesperson, Robert Bellefleur, argued there was still no "appearance of justice" in the case six years after the tragedy that killed 47 people.
 
"We have to turn things around. We need to give Transport Canada its real role as a rail security watchdog," he said.
 
The request for a public inquiry is not new.
 
In 2015, then-Lake Megantic mayor Colette Roy Laroche called for an independent inquiry.
 
Stephen Harper's government did not respond to the request at the time.
 
After the acquittal of the three accused in the Lake Megantic tragedy in the winter of 2018, the Quebec National Assembly voted unanimously to ask the federal government to conduct a public inquiry.
 
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