After a Christmas truce, the two combatants in the grain transportation war will be returning to the trenches later this month.
Officials from the Canadian Wheat Board and the Western Grain Elevators Association have set aside five days beginning Jan. 25 to resume their deadlocked negotiations over new rules for shipping grain.
From what they’re saying publicly, it seems they’ll be carrying with them the seasonal spirit of peace and goodwill.
They remain far apart on the issues, but both sides are striking an optimistic note, suggesting that the holiday hiatus may help them make a fresh start on resolving their deep-seated differences.
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“This period was probably good for everybody to sit back and reflect a little bit, or maybe not even think about it all, which was probably the best idea,” said wheat board president and chief executive officer Greg Arason.
“I think we have a reasonable chance here to resolve some of these things.”
Brian Hayward, chief executive officer of United Grain Growers and vice-chair of the WGEA, agreed a cooling-off period was needed and might contribute to a successful outcome.
“I think I’m optimistic now that we’ll be able to sit down … and try to work through the issues in a calm and rational way in good faith, for the good of the industry.”
Those positive and conciliatory words reflect a change from the mood in the weeks leading up to Christmas, when the two sides engaged in a public slanging match that included heated rhetoric and threats of lawsuits.
Both sides are now clearly trying to sound positive, saying there is room for compromise and that the disagreement can be resolved.
But the reality remains that neither the board nor the grain handlers seem prepared to change their positions on any of the fundamental issues:
- The grain handlers don’t like the terms of the commercial tenders being issued by the board and have refused to participate.
- The board wants to be named the shipper of CWB grain on the railways’ freight bills, but the companies have refused to go along, saying they must be the legal shipper in order to protect their commercial interests in shipping grain.
- The board tried to introduce a new system of allocating rail cars, driven largely by where farmers choose to deliver grain, but backed off after the companies said they wouldn’t accept car orders under such a system.
Both sides say those issues can’t be looked at in isolation.
“You can’t just whack off one of them and fix it,” Hayward said.
“It’s all intertwined in terms of the shipper and how cars are booked and how grain moves into the system.”
One deadline that had been looming has now been delayed. The formal primary elevator handling agreement between the board and the grain companies, which sets out many of the details of how the system operates, was scheduled to expire Jan. 15. By mutual consent, it has been extended for another month.
“That gives us some breathing room, some time to work through these things without a deadline hanging over us,” Arason said.
However, he rejected suggestions that it might make sense to put off changes until next crop year beginning Aug. 1. There is nothing magical about that date, he said, and the issue has been hanging over the industry’s head for too long already.
“I’d like to see some of these things get finalized and get on with it.”
Hayward repeated the WGEA’s calls for third party assistance in negotiations, saying professional mediators can help two parties get past entrenched positions and loaded words, and identify and deal with their real interests.
“Why wouldn’t we avail ourselves of the expertise that’s out there?” he said. “When you take away the words and just talk about the interests, there’s usually room for compromise.”
The board has consistently rejected the need for third party intervention, preferring face-to-face negotiations.
