Farmers demand action on grain transportation

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: March 2, 2018

, ,

Service this year has been "a disaster", said Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Todd Lewis. | File photo

OTTAWA — Canadian grain farmers want a plan to get grain moving within the next two weeks.

Representatives from regional and national organizations held a news conference on Parliament Hill yesterday to demand action on the rail bottleneck that threatens a repeat of 2013-14.

“Parliament is going to take a two-week break. We need a plan coming back,” said Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett. “We need action and we need action now.”

That could include an order in council like the one passed in 2014 by the Conservative government to force the railways to move minimum volumes.

Read Also

Alex Wood exhibits a bull at the Ag in Motion 2025 junior cattle show.

First annual Ag in Motion Junior Cattle Show kicks off with a bang

Ag in Motion 2025 had its first annual junior cattle show on July 15. The show hosted more than 20…

Service this year has been “a disaster”, said Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Todd Lewis.

CN’s service in Manitoba has been especially poor. Keystone Agricultural Producers president Dan Mazier said only 25 cars were delivered to the province earlier in February.

The organizations also want Bill C-49, still under Senate scrutiny, passed as soon as possible, although CN’s Janet Drysdale told the CFA annual meeting that the legislation wouldn’t have helped the current situation.

Conservative and NDP opposition MPs have called for an emergency hearing next week at the standing agriculture committee.

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said the government is fully aware of the situation and has met with CN to discuss grain shipping.

Contact karen.briere@producer.com

About the author

Karen Briere

Karen Briere

Karen Briere grew up in Canora, Sask. where her family had a grain and cattle operation. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has spent more than 30 years covering agriculture from the Western Producer’s Regina bureau.

explore

Stories from our other publications