The Farmer Rail Car Coalition isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
At a June 7 board meeting, the organization decided to continue its work even though it didn’t fulfil its original mission to obtain ownership of the federal hopper car fleet.
“The board has decided to carry on negotiating with the province to try to secure ownership or the maintenance management of the Saskatchewan fleet,” president Sinclair Harrison said.
The FRCC could also fill a watchdog role over the federal cars, he said.
“We want to continue working with the minister of agriculture federally and the transport minister and MPs to try and get our recommendations in place,” Harrison said.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Those recommendations include that all taxpayers pay to replace hopper cars and that maintenance contracts be tendered.
The coalition is approaching the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments for operating funds. It also has a meeting planned for early July with Alberta agriculture minister Doug Horner to discuss maintenance management of the Alberta cars.
The FRCC has approached rural municipalities for funding as well. Harrison said the response has been positive.
He said the coalition would fund the purchase of Saskatchewan cars by leasing them out. Financing arrangements would have to be put in place.
Should the coalition secure the Saskatchewan cars and the maintenance of Alberta cars, Harrison said that would keep jobs in rural areas such as Ogema, Sask., where maintenance work is already done.
Farmers should have some influence on how hopper car maintenance is done, he added, given that the railways overcharged for such work in the past.
“Nobody has been paying attention to that,” he said. “We have a function – to make sure the money farmers are paying goes to the right number of cars and the work is actually being performed.”
