Even through the latest version of the lengthy investigation into the grain transportation system has been launched with a Dec. 31, 1998 deadline, uncertainty hangs over the exercise.
Will the review, headed by Willard Estey, be derailed if the Canadian Wheat Board case before the Canadian Transportation Agency drags on through the summer? The wheat board alleges the railways performed poorly in grain hauling last year, costing farmers about $65 million.
The federal government has always insisted a review of the grain transportation system cannot be held while three of the key players, the two railways and the wheat board, are before the courts.
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The CTA hearings in Saskatoon are to start in March.
Federal officials said last week a ruling is not expected until June.
If either side appeals, that appeal would go to the federal cabinet.
Western Canadian Wheat Growers’ Association president Larry Maguire wonders if that happens, will the government simply halt the grain system review until a decision is made?
Maguire’s MP, Brandon Conservative Rick Borotsik, wonders the same.
“Is this a delaying tactic, to be seen to be trying to do something but then saying their hands are tied?” he asked.
In Ottawa, these are sensitive questions that have not been officially answered by the politicians.
But the deadlines set for the Estey review are meant to accommodate the CTA schedule.
The first phase, which will be conducted largely through private consultations, is to end May 31.
Once the CTA decision is announced, the more public phase two could start.
But what happens if there is an appeal? Will phase two be delayed until it is resolved?
A federal bureaucrat involved in the review said it is “too early in the process” to speculate about that.
He would offer his opinions only if he remained anonymous.
“What we’re trying to do is work around the legal issues that surround the wheat board case,” he said. “It is too early to tell exactly what complications could arise from a potential appeal. I think a lot depends on what comes out of the first phase and how comfortable Mr. Estey feels trying to pull the stakeholders together despite an appeal.”
Does that mean phase two could continue even if the wheat board battle with the railways over poor performance remains before the government?
“At this point, that’s what we’re planning for,” he said. “It’s too early to tell what the dynamic will be then. I just don’t want to send people a message that it could be derailed. We’ll just have to work within the confines that present themselves.”
