The cabinet ministers appointed by Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall to meet with stakeholders in the grain transportation industry will be in Montreal Thursday to meet with Canadian National Railway.
They will meet with Canadian Pacific Railway on Friday.
Economy minister Bill Boyd said the railways must move more grain. Grain handlers told the ministers in meetings last week it could be 2015 before the backlog is cleared.
“We’ve seen a dramatic drop in grain prices, some 25 or 30 percent in many cases,” he said prior to leaving for Montreal. “We see rail backed up, up to two or three months, so we want to talk to them about how we’re going to get caught back up.”
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Boyd said the companies said they need up to 10,000 cars per week to clear the backlog, and the cabinet delegation hopes to get that message across to the railways.
He said the railways can’t use the excuse of winter weather for poor service.
“I’m not sure that farmers out there accept that kind of an excuse when they are out there either feeding cattle or trying to move grain on a daily basis as well,” he said.
Boyd added the ministers were concerned that the grain companies showed no interest in testing the federal legislation that allows for service level agreements.
He said Wall is expected to be in Ottawa next week working on this issue. As well, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is in Winnipeg next week meeting with grain companies, and the province will have some representatives in attendance.
