CN's Neumiller, village of Valemount win Roger Cyr rail safety awards

Operation Lifesaver Canada (OL) has named CN Police Constable Hank Neumiller and the village of Valemount, British Columbia, as the winners of the 2021 Roger Cyr Awards.

Named after OL’s founder and launched in 1981, the awards are presented annually via a joint initiative between OL, the Railway Association of Canada and Transport Canada. The awards recognize outstanding performance in helping to prevent trespassing incidents and grade crossing accidents.

The award is open to all active OL partners and volunteers who demonstrate strong efforts to improve rail safety and help encourage others to follow suit. For the first time, OL is presenting a separate award to Canadian municipalities or communities that have made an outstanding contribution to rail safety through education, training or community-based programs aimed at reducing incidents.

The 2021 award winners used fresh approaches to promote rail safety, OL officials said in a press release. Neumiller launched an alternative measures program in Regina, Saskatchewan, to educate youth on rail safety and help prevent dangerous behaviors around CN’s network.

“Hank’s passion for rail safety, his commitment to education and community engagement, and his restorative-justice approach to enforcement made him the stand-out choice for this year’s award,” said OL National Director Sarah Mayes.

Neumiller joined the CN police department five years ago after a successful career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. OL also bestowed honorable mentions to Dean Solowan of the CN police department, Chris Kalmakoff of the Canadian Pacific police department and Jean-Guy DuSablon, who retired from VIA Rail Canada Inc.

Meanwhile, Valemount was chosen as the first-ever winner of the community award for posting “Look. Listen. Live.” decals at key pedestrian-rail crossings last year and helping arrange OL’s videos to be broadcast on local TV stations to educate village members about rail safety.