March 12, 2014
Provincial Task Force on Grain Transportation Announces New Measures to Ensure Federal Steps Work for Manitoba
New measures to ensure recent federal action to ease the backlog of grain in western Canada address the unique needs of Manitoba’s farmers and grain industry were announced today by a task force of senior provincial government ministers.
“Last year, we saw a bumper crop throughout the province, but this transportation backlog means that crops are not getting to market. We know that farmers don’t get paid until their grain is delivered to the customer,” said Premier Greg Selinger. “We welcome the federal steps announced last week and are committed to making sure the unique challenges facing Manitoba are addressed.”
The federal government announced on March 7 that rail companies will face penalties of $100,000 a day unless they double the current volumes of grain shipments. Manitoba’s task force is immediately focused on ensuring farmers in this province get fair access to rail cars and has raised the issue with the federal government, the premier said, adding other steps the task force is making to address immediate concerns include:
- launching a review of flood-prone areas to help farmers move at-risk grain,
- establishing a grain bin listing service that willassist producers in obtaining alternate storage locations for at risk grain, and
- ensuring flexibility on road restrictions to help move grain through the spring.
The provincial task force is co-chaired by Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn and Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton and also includes Municipal Government Minister Stan Struthers and Jobs and the Economy Minister Theresa Oswald. The task force is working with key stakeholders including Keystone Agricultural Producers, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and the Western Grain Elevator Association to address the backlog issues with the national rail companies and the federal government.
“I have been in regular conversation with industry leaders throughout this crisis,” said Minister Kostyshyn. “Our priority is ensuring Manitoba farmers have access to trade corridors to move their grain to market in all directions -east, west, north and south. Some of these corridors, particularly to the United States and eastern ports, are not being serviced adequately by railways at this point.”
The minister also noted the provincial government participated in the Federal Rail Freight Service Review in 2010 and made a number of recommendations that, if implemented, could help ease the backlog today and in the future including:
- amending the Canadian Transportation Act to empower the Canadian Transportation Agency to direct the national railways to establish interchanges at rail intersecting locations and to establish a suitable network of interchanges for rail inter-switching including capacity requirements; and
- ensuring the Canadian Transportation Agency consults with shippers and railways jointly and establishes standards of service that are predictable and meet the business needs of shippers, and the act be amended so that railways are obligated to operate within the standards.
“We need increased regulatory oversight and higher standards set for service,” said Minister Ashton. “We hope the federal government takes our recommendations seriously and acts on them to help ensure farmers don’t face a crisis like this again.”
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