CLEAR LAKE, Man. – Calvin Gust fears the window of opportunity may soon slam shut on community groups wanting to create short-line rail systems.
The Bowsman, Man., farmer believes less than a year remains to save several stretches of rail line slated for abandonment by Canada’s national rail companies. He wants Ottawa to adopt new rules making short lines more viable.
“Some great progress will have to be made this winter,” said Gust, “or a lot of them will be dead in the water.”
Gust took his cause to Manitoba’s main farm lobby group two weeks ago. He asked Keystone Agricultural Producers to pass a motion that insists on changes to the Canada Transportation Act.
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Gust said national rail companies are following the rules of the act, but those rules aren’t spelled out clearly enough to allow short lines to succeed. “There hasn’t been a successful short line yet under this process in Western Canada.”
The motion brought before KAP called for a moratorium on rail-line abandonment until after justice Willard Estey tables his report on Canada’s grain handling and transportation system. The motion also called for a revamping of the Canada Transportation Act to ensure fair revenue splits between short-line operators and the national rail companies.
KAP passed the motion at a general council meeting here Oct. 21. The message, said KAP president Don Dewar, is that the restructuring of rail service needs to slow down and be done in a “meaningful fashion.”
Gust co-chairs a committee trying to form a short line in the Swan River area. He thinks existing rail lines should be protected until Western Canada gets a clearer picture of what’s happening with the grain delivery system. That picture is changing fast as new concrete terminals are poured, eliminating the need for many of the older wooden elevators.
“Even two years down the road we will have a much better picture of how the system will evolve,” said Gust. “We’re just trying to keep the rails in the ground in the meantime.”
Kevin Wadham, a Virden, Man., farmer, spoke in support of the motion passed by KAP last week. Wadham thinks the national rail companies are trying to increase profits at the expense of farmers.
