Canadian National Railway is attempting to appeal a Canadian Transportation Agency ruling that the railway exceeded its revenue cap by nearly $7 million in 2014-15.
“CN believes the CTA did not apply the revenue cap properly, which erroneously caused it to conclude CN had exceeded its revenue entitlement,” company spokesperson Mark Hallman said in a Jan. 29 email.
“As part of its appeal, CN is also asking the Federal Court of Appeal to suspend the application of the CTA decision, including ordered payment and financial penalty.”
The CTA published a decision late last year that claimed CN exceeded it revenue entitlements for moving western Canadian grain by more than $6.86 million in the 2014-15 crop year.
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It ordered the company to repay the $6.86 million along with a penalty of more than $343,000 to the Western Grains Research Foundation before the end of January.
CN provided In a document that summarizes the basis of its appeal, CN said the CTA committed several errors in its interpretation of the revenue cap provisions:
• failure to recognize the actual mileage over which CN moved grain during the 2014-15 crop year
• wrongly including grain movements to destinations that are ineligible under railway revenue cap provisions
• improper accounting of revenues that CN receives for moving grain under federal interswitching provisions
• using an “unfair” process that requires CN to raise material issues before April 30
“CN is asking a stay of the agency’s decision ordering CN to pay the excess amount and penalty to the Western Grains Foundation on the basis that there is no certainty that CN will ever recover the money should it be successful in the appeal process and that it would be contrary to CN’s corporate statutory obligations and fiduciary duties,” the summary document stated.
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