With changes to federal rail service legislation and the Canada Transportation Act (CTA) expected soon, a coalition of Saskatchewan producer groups visited federal officials in Ottawa last week to ensure farmer voices are being heard.
The producer coalition, which includes the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat), the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SaskBarley) and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), met with officials with Transport Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), as well as several Members of Parliament. The message the coalition brought to Ottawa was simple: Any changes to the transportation system must benefit Prairie grain producers.
“Saskatchewan producers depend on an affordable and reliable grain transportation as an essential service,” said APAS President Todd Lewis. “We do not have alternatives for shipping our crops to export markets, so we need to ensure that the federal government understands our needs.”
The coalition has been vocal about grain handling and transport, continually meeting with federal officials and commissioning several academic studies, which showed western Canadian producers have lost billions of dollars since 2013 due to a lack of rail and port capacity. In a 2014 submission to the CTA review committee, the producer coalition recommended that the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) be maintained, that a full railway costing review be conducted before any MRE adjustments are considered, and that the CTA create a rail oversight group, that includes agricultural producer representation, to assess ongoing operations of the railways.
“Effecting long-term policy change can be a slow process, but trips such as this one are part of the necessary steps,” says Jason Skotheim, SaskBarley Board Chair. “One of our top priorities at SaskBarley is acting as an advocate for Saskatchewan farmers at a national level. By meeting with federal government officials on trips such as this one, we get the unique opportunity to bring our concerns to key decision makers face-to-face.”
“It is important that the producer voice is heard and that we have shipping price protection from the railways in any revised legislation,” adds Sask Wheat Chair Bill Gehl. “Sask Wheat has been to Ottawa twice since February emphasizing the need for transportation policy that encourages maximum grain shipments and works for shippers, railways and producers. The MRE guarantees a fair return for railways while protecting farmers from undue railway power. We need this to be maintained and other mechanisms built in to improve export volumes and, ultimately, the profitability of our farms.”
Source : Sask Wheat Commission