CN Rail says it’s not admitting anything, but some farmers and farm leaders say the railway has in effect pleaded guilty to poor performance.
“I guess from a business point of view I’m not surprised the railway would not admit guilt,” said Oxbow, Sask., farmer Wayne Amos. “But if they’re settling, there’s a reason they are settling.”
CN last week negotiated an agreement with the Canadian Wheat Board to bring to an end the board’s complaint that the railways failed to provide a reasonable level of service in the winter of 1996-97.
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CN will pay an undisclosed amount of money to the board in the form of cash and freight rate adjustments. Board officials say all the funds will be passed on to farmers, although it hasn’t yet been determined how.
The deal was officially described as a “no-fault settlement”, meaning the railway is admitting no liability.
However Amos, one of about a dozen farmers who appeared at the hearings to complain about poor railway performance that winter, has no doubt who won.
“I would say it’s a victory for farmers,” he said.
National Farmers Union president Nettie Wiebe also interpreted the settlement as a de facto admission of guilt by CN.
She said that after three weeks of testimony, the railway saw the writing on the wall and decided to cut its losses by cutting a deal.
“It must have been clear to them in the last couple of weeks of hearings that they were going to lose,” she said. “That’s the only reason they would have come to the table. Otherwise it wouldn’t make any logical sense to negotiate a deal.”
In an interview, CN spokesperson Jim Feeny was adamant that even though the railway is paying money to the board, it’s not conceding it failed to provide reasonable service.
“There is compensation to achieve the settlement but we are not admitting we are at fault,” he said. “It’s a fine distinction but it is a distinction, and it’s important.”
The railway’s goal was to end the dispute, and payment had to be part of the package in order for that to happen.
“It is a no-fault agreement, but to achieve the settlement there were financial conditions attached to it,” said Feeny.
Larry Maguire, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said he was surprised and pleased that the two sides had settled, and urged CP Rail and the board to follow suit so the industry can put the 1996-97 problems to bed.
He said no one party was completely to blame for the problems of 1996-97.
It would be nice to know what is in the agreement between CN and the board, Maguire said, but freight rate adjustments and financial compensation in the deal are good news: “The farmer wins both ways.”
No hard feelings
He said a settlement is also preferable to a CTA decision in which one side wins and one loses. That would result in continued hard feelings and almost certainly be followed by appeals and/or lawsuits.
Manitoba Pool Elevators president Charlie Swanson said while it’s difficult to comment on the deal without seeing the details, he believes the board must have achieved substantial financial benefits for farmers.
“There’s got to be some recognition of the losses that occurred,” he said. “The wheat board having taken it this far, they must have been successful in negotiating a fair and reasonable settlement.”
