The Conservative government is fast-tracking consideration of its rail freight service legislation in Parliament, expecting to finish committee hearings on the bill within two sitting weeks.
Transport committee chair Larry Miller, a rural Ontario MP and former agriculture committee chair, said yesterday the committee will hear from shippers and the railways in hearings the weeks of Feb. 25 and March 4.
“Things can come up, but I hope we can finish up when we meet March 7,” he said in an interview.
If that schedule works, Bill C-52 could be back in the House of Commons for final debate by late March and through the Senate and into law by summer.
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All parties agree with it in principle.
However, opposition MPs on the committee say that while they support the legislation, the committee must hear from a variety of shippers who want the legislation toughened.
They could fight attempts by the Conservative majority to speed up the process by hearing from shipper and farm coalitions rather than individual shippers with grievances.
The railways also are on the witness list to argue that threatened legislative sanctions to govern service levels provided by carriers are unnecessary because service has been improving and commercial deals between shippers and railways are preferable.
The legislation allows shippers facing rail service problems the right to apply for Canadian Transportation Agency arbitration to have a service agreement imposed as long as they have tried and failed to negotiate an acceptable commercial agreement.
If the railway then fails to live up to the service level promised, fines of up to $100,000 for each infraction could be levied.
Transport minister Denis Lebel opened committee hearings yesterday by predicting shippers will be happy with the bill.
He said railway performance has improved since a rail service review started several years ago, and having potentially punitive legislation on the books should encourage the railways to continue to improve service.
“Ideally, the legislation will never have to be used,” he told MPs.
However, the Conservative government understands that a situation where two national railways deal with multiple shippers does not represent free market economics.
“It is necessary to use the law to give shippers more leverage,” said Lebel.
