Farmers and grain shippers will have to wait until the end of December for the results of a federal review of rail freight service in Canada
The review, announced in August 2008, was supposed to be completed in summer 2010 but that deadline has been pushed back by six months.
Walter Paszkowski, chair of the review panel, said last week the statistical analysis and data collection phase took longer than expected.
He said the panel now plans to submit its report and recommendations to the government on Dec. 22.
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A Transport Canada spokesperson gave no indication how or when the federal government will respond.
“We look forward to the commission’s recommendations … and reviewing them, before making any decisions on whether further action is required as a result of the review,” said Melanie Quesnel of Transport Canada.
The rail freight service review consisted of two parts.
First, an Edmonton-based consulting company spent about nine months conducting a detailed statistical analysis, interviewing and gathering data on the state of the system
WALTER PASZKOWSKI RAIL FREIGHT SERVICE REVIEW PANEL CHAIR
and identifying problems that need to be addressed.
The 500-page consultants’ report was then turned over to a three-member panel headed by Paszkowski, former minister of agriculture and transportation in Alberta.
The review is designed to cover all major commodities shipped by rail in the country.
That’s made clear by looking at the list of 141 submissions received by the panel, coming from a wide diversity of groups, including the Omenica Beetle Action Coalition, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Mazda Canada, the Propane Gas Association of Canada and a number of local municipalities and towns.
The usual collection of western grain shippers and farm groups, along with national and local railways, also made submissions.
The panel is meeting with shipper groups that made submissions and railway companies.
Paszkowski emphasized that the panel’s mandate does not include looking at such things as freight rates or revenues, but rather strictly with service issues, such as car supply and movement in peak and normal times, operating practices, accountability for railways and shippers, and communications and interaction between railways and shippers.
All submissions can viewed at www.tc.gc.ca/eng/policy/acg-rfs-reviewexamen- sfm-rvw-eng-442.htm.
