A federal government source says legislative action on commodity shipper rights will not happen until well into 2012 at the earliest.
A rail service review panel submitted a report to government almost a year ago that called for more shipper protection, including legislative guarantees of level-of-service protection if deals cannot be worked out with the railways.
In March, the Conservative government promised to act. Nothing has been heard since.
“There is no reason at all why there can’t be legislation introduced on the 19th or 20th of September (when Parliament resumes) and legislation passed before the end of this year that guarantees shippers the legal, enforceable right to have a level-of-service agreement,” deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said.
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“We’re coming to the anniversary of the completion of the report. The government appears to be succumbing to the railway lobby and they seem quite happy to let this drag on and on and on. We are going to demand quick action.”
However, a Transport Canada official familiar with the file said the department is working to find a credible facilitator to work with shippers and carriers for six months to work out the details of required agreements. An announcement is expected this autumn.
Only when the facilitator ends the consultation work will legislation be introduced to put shipper protection into law.
“We are looking at sometime next year, spring or summer, once the facilitator phase is over,” said the government official.
Goodale said the Conservatives should be ready to act now.
“I asked about it before the House (of Commons) rose in June and they didn’t seem to know what I was talking about,” he said.
“We’re going to make it clear this is a priority the government should move on now. That will help demonstrate that we’re (Liberals) serious about farm issues.”
Since the May 2 election, the railway file has been passed to two ministers with no previous experience in transport politics – transport minister Denis Lebel from rural Québec and junior transport minister Stephen Fletcher from Winnipeg.
The summer featured a flurry of bureaucratic and industry briefings to get them up to speed on the myriad issues in the transportation industry. Lebel is also responsible for infrastructure and communities as head of one of Ottawa’s largest departments.
