Organizations hoped federal candidates would pledge to tackle the issues surrounding grain transportation, but it didn’t happen
Saskatchewan farm groups are still hoping that grain transportation issues will create at least a faint blip on the radar screens of federal election campaigners.
But with less than a week remaining before Canadian voters head to the polls, it appears that is unlikely.
Bill Gehl, chair of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, said he has no idea why it has not figured more prominently in the campaign.
“Why hasn’t it been a bigger issue?” said Gehl. “I wish I knew the answer to that.”
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Late last month, Sask Wheat attempted to cast a political spotlight on grain transportation.
In a Sept. 29 new release, the commission encouraged voters to make sure candidates are “aware of the importance of having adequate transportation and handling capacity that works for producers.”
The Sask Wheat news release cited a report by Richard Grey, an agricultural economist from the University of Saskatchewan, which suggested export capacity constraints and abnormally wide basis levels cost western Canadian grain producers at least $5 billion during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 crop years, and possibly as much as $6.7 billion.
Gehl said that boils down to a financial loss of $120,000 on every 1,000 acres of farmland over the past two crop years.
“That’s a tremendous loss to producer income, a loss to the western economies and a loss to our local businesses. When farmers have those types of losses, it affects every business in every rural community,” he said.
With the exception of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, agricultural issues have been largely ignored by federal candidates, at least at the national level, Gehl said.
Norm Hall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, described agricultural issues in the federal campaign as non-existent.
He said he was encouraged Sept. 30 when party representatives participating in a debate about agricultural issues indicated they would act upon recommendations put forward by a federal panel charged with reviewing the Canada Transportation Act.
That panel is expected to file its report before the end of the year.
“Hopefully that’s a good signal,” he said.
“Yes, we got the record crop off to market … and the railways say they’re all caught up, but the short lines and the producer car shippers are still waiting for service.”
Hall said the TPP trade deal announced by Ottawa Oct. 5 will benefit western Canadian producers, but he encouraged federal politicians to weigh those benefits against costs caused by chronic transportation bottlenecks during the winter of 2013-14.
“As with all trade deals, the TPP presents opportunities, but then you have to be able to take advantage of those opportunities,” he said.
“I’ve mentioned that to the minister a couple of times. Thanks for all the trade deals you’ve done, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing if we can’t get our products to market.”
