OTTAWA — The grain-handling system must be simplified to make it more accountable and efficient, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said last week.
Efficiency issues will be part of the discussion when a government-industry task force on the future begins work this spring. Goodale said the need for reform is obvious.
A Commons committee suggested bureaucratic bungling at the Grain Transportation Agency was a major part of the grain hauling crisis during the past winter.
In an interview, Goodale said he found the duplication and overlap of responsibilities and duties within the grain handling system “so very troubling, confusing and perplexing.”
Read Also
Land crash warning rejected
A technical analyst believes that Saskatchewan land values could be due for a correction, but land owners and FCC say supply/demand fundamentals drive land prices – not mathematical models
While not laying it all at the door of the GTA, he said reform is needed.
There must be “some fundamental simplification in the approach and decision-making process,” he said.
“It has become so complex and convoluted that we do need to revisit some structural questions to make sure that the system can function.”
A letter of recommendations by committee members to Goodale and transport minister Doug Young last week said they found it significant the ministers didn’t rally to the defence of the GTA and its head, Peter Thomson.
May require unbiased view
Goodale said he took note of the criticism, wanted to hear the GTA’s side of it and wondered if some outside analysis of the agency’s performance might not be needed.
Young told the Commons transport committee May 10 he has asked Thomson for comments on the criticism.
He said a review of the future of hundreds of government bodies and agencies already underway could result in some changes to the cluttered grain transportation regulatory field.
And he would neither defend nor condemn the GTA, which falls under his jurisdiction.
