The Conservative government has used its majority on the House of Commons transport committee to reject shipper-inspired amendments to toughen rail service legislation.
Amendments proposed by opposition MPs would have injected a definition of service standards that railways would be expected to meet and the ability of shippers to win compensation for service standard breaches without going to court.
The Conservative majority on April 16 voted down the amendments, arguing that the bill strikes a reasonable balance between the rights of shippers and the rights of carriers.
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The bill returns to the House April 25 for the beginning of final debate before it is approved and sent to the Senate.
The government wants it approved and into law by summer.
Bob Ballantyne, chair of the Coalition of Rail Shippers that proposed the amendments, said rail shippers will be disappointed with the rejection.
However, he said Bill C-52 should be passed because it is better than nothing.
“I think there is a lot of disappointment and a lot of skepticism about how effective this will be,” he said.
“We’ll see, but it’s all we’ve got at the moment so I think my members think we should support it, but with disappointment.”
The coalition can still try to convince the Senate to amend the bill, although the Conservatives also enjoy a majority there.
The legislation gives shippers who face 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 a commercial agreement.
Fines of up to $100,000 for each infraction could be levied if the railway fails to live up to the service level that was promised or imposed. The money would go to the government.
Damage payments that went directly to the aggrieved shipper would have to come from a court judgment.
“I just think it’s a shame that Conservatives let their anti-regulation ideology trump what shippers clearly said were their needs,” said Liberal MP and former ag minister Ralph Goodale. “It has taken them six years to get this far and the results are very disappointing.”
He said the Liberals will consider reintroducing amendments at the Senate, but the Conservatives have made their opposition clear.
“I think what we see is what we get.”
The government view is that the legislation offers shippers unprecedented power when bargaining with carriers, which often hold a near monopoly on transportation options.
Transport minister Denis Lebel told the transport committee the bill will put shippers in the driver’s seat. Railways will improve their performance with the threat of sanctions hanging over them, he added.
Lebel said hopefully the arbitration power never will have to be used.
Railway executives told the committee the legislation is unnecessary, they do not have a monopoly and service has been improving. Commercial negotiations between carriers and shippers are the best way forward.
Minister of state for transport Steven Fletcher said during House of Commons debate on the bill, that the legislation should calm the waters between carriers and their often-captive customers.
He said the legislation would enhance the relationship between shippers and carriers.
