Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale chided the railways last week for making excuses rather than moving grain.
On two consecutive days, he told the House of Commons that the railways have promised him they are putting more locomotive power onto the Prairies.
Outside the House, Goodale said the railways should plan ahead to smooth out the winter peaks of grain movement and to make sure enough locomotive power is available when needed.
“While the excuse … the explanation they offer is OK as far as it goes, it is not good enough,” he said.
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For opposition MPs, Goodale’s response didn’t go far enough.
Saskatchewan New Democrat Len Taylor, who first raised the issue, said Goodale has the power to order the railways to do a better job.
“He and the government should be using that authority, including the car allocation authority,” he said. “And if he doesn’t have the authority he needs, he should get it.”
Taylor said the government has spent the past few years giving the railways what they wanted through deregulation, selling off CN Rail, “allowing the abandonment of rail lines and condoning inappropriate downsizing within the railways.”
All these government policies have contributed to the problem, said the New Democrats’ agriculture spokesperson.
The government “has a responsibility and the authority that is required to get the railways to make grain a priority,” he said. Doesn’t Goodale agree “he should use the full extent of his authority to get that grain moving again?”
Goodale said his legislative power to order the railways around in a deregulated climate “is rather limited.”
The next day, Feb. 7, Alberta Reform MP Leon Benoit told the Commons the government was responsible because it removed the Crow Benefit subsidy and put the new transportation act in place before it introduced real competition.
