A coalition of prairie farm groups is demanding that candidates in the federal election pay attention to flaws in transportation rules that cost farmer commodity shippers money and market power.
On June 7, the coalition that includes provincial farm umbrella groups, the Canadian Wheat Board, Alberta Soft Wheat Producers’ Commission and the National Farmers Union, sent letters to western Canadian candidates asking for commitments on four issues:
- Preserve the current rail infrastructure.
- Update the rail revenue cap to include lower current costs and therefore reduce farmer freight rates. The cap is calculated using 1992 costs that do not reflect railway savings from rationalization.
- Require railway opponents of joint running rights proposals to justify their opposition rather than putting the onus on proponents to prove the benefit.
- Make stricter level-of-service requirements for the railways.
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“The upcoming federal election is an important opportunity for western Canadian farmers to get the political parties and the candidates who are vying for their votes to take a stand on these issues,” said a statement issued by the coalition.
“This is a crucial step in getting government to implement the changes that will enable western Canadian farmers to compete successfully in the world grain trade.”
Bill Dobson, president of Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers and one of the supporters of the call for political action, said the statement is an attempt to set the groundwork for a future lobby.
“Absolutely,” he said June 6 from his Paradise Valley farm. “These issues are important to farmers and they are not being discussed. This is putting candidates on notice that these are important issues and we will be back after the election to press the case with whoever is elected.”
Ian McCreery, a Saskatchewan director for the CWB, said grain transportation issues have fallen off the radar screen.
“They don’t get attention but they remain an important bottom line issue for farmers,” he said. “We hope with this statement that they become part of the dialogue of the election campaign.
“Once the campaign is over, we will be pressing the new government to revisit transportation policy to make sure the tilt that it now has towards the carriers is tilted a little bit more back toward the shippers.”
Meanwhile, members of the group took it as good news that the Liberal party included in its election platform a promise that a new Liberal government would work with the Farmer Rail Car Coalition to transfer ownership of the government’s fleet of grain cars to farmers.
“That’s a positive piece of news,” said Dobson. “There are savings to be had by farmers if those cars are controlled by the shippers and not the carriers who will extract what they can for them from the captive market.”
