Last week Thursday the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion to prolong for one year the temporary rail transport provisions enacted in 2014 under Bill C-30, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act.
Among these measures are extended interswitching limits and strengthened regulations to ensure that railways meet service obligations. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) says these extended provisions will bring certainty for grain producers in the 2016 crop year.
Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier says this not only stabilizes the conversation around grain transport, but it also highlights the issue for the new government, as the act was created under the previous government.
"This is a new government," he says, "we have a new ag minister and a new transport minister, and I'm sensing there's going to be challenges in getting them up to speed and realizing how important this review is to agriculture."
Source : Portageonline