Talk of rail deregulation is in the air but is it inevitable? And if it comes, will it necessarily improve the grain transportation system?
These are questions filling prairie meeting rooms as industry players gear up for next year’s review of the regulatory system. Leaders of the railway and grain industries say deregulation and commercialization of the system is needed and inevitable. It would revolutionize the way grain transportation is arranged.
But some farmers remain skeptical about who would benefit. Some farmer delegates to prairie wheat pools and United Grain Growers meetings this year suggested they do not trust the railways to
improve service in a deregulated system.
In this special report, Regina-based correspondent Karen Briere looks at the prospects for deregulation, its defenders and its detractors.
