It has been a challenging few months for Alberta’s agriculture community.
At a time when we should be reaping the rewards of one of the best crops in recent memory, it has been a struggle just to get our products to market.
Elevators and farmyard bins across this province are filled to the rafters. Meanwhile, ships are lined up at West Coast ports, waiting for railcars to bring enough grain to fill empty cargo holds.
Canada’s railway network is a federal responsibility. Alberta is fully supportive of the federal government introducing legislative changes that would make the system more accountable through direct and immediate penalties for whichever part of the system is responsible for the backlog, including inadequate rail service.
While this year’s bumper harvest was exceptional, it has exposed some weaknesses in Canada’s grain-handling transportation system that must be fixed.
One of the major flaws is the uneven distribution of financial accountability within the current system.
Unlike producers and grain companies, railways don’t face immediate penalties when they fail to meet their grain-delivery commitments. That needs to change.
The vast majority of grain elevators are served by only one railway. This monopoly means there is no competitive incentive for the rail companies to improve service.
We are also encouraging producers facing cash-flow challenges to access programs, like the federal Advance Payment Program and AgriInvest, to help address expenses while they are waiting for their grain to get to market.
We know there are a lot of contributing factors to the current transportation backlog, which is affecting our agriculture sector. There is a lot of coffee shop talk about these issues being caused by the movement of oil and the Canadian Wheat Board transition, when in fact oil is moved at a significantly smaller percentage in comparison to grain, and there were complaints about rail service when the single desk marketing monopoly was in place as evidenced by the last Rail Freight Service Review that started in 2008.
It should also be noted that other commodities, such as lumber and oil, are suffering from the same problems. This isn’t just an agricultural issue.
While work is underway by the western Canadian provinces, the federal government and industry to develop long-term strategies to improve the movement of goods, legislating greater financial accountability in the rail system is one meaningful change that will yield more immediate results.
Market access is a top priority for Alberta. Our reputation as a world-class supplier of food, energy and other exports is at risk if we are unable to meet the needs of our customers in a timely fashion.
It is imperative that appropriate steps are taken to improve the efficiency of our rail transportation network. The status quo is not an option.
We are also encouraging producers facing cash-flow challenges to access programs, like the federal Advance Payment Program and AgriInvest, to help address expenses while they are waiting for their grain to get to market.
We know there are a lot of contributing factors to the current transportation backlog, which is affecting our agriculture sector. There is a lot of coffee shop talk about these issues being caused by the movement of oil and the Canadian Wheat Board transition, when in fact oil is moved at a significantly smaller percentage in comparison to grain, and there were complaints about rail service when the single desk marketing monopoly was in place as evidenced by the last Rail Freight Service Review that started in 2008.
It should also be noted that other commodities, such as lumber and oil, are suffering from the same problems. This isn’t just an agricultural issue.
While work is underway by the western Canadian provinces, the federal government and industry to develop long-term strategies to improve the movement of goods, legislating greater financial accountability in the rail system is one meaningful change that will yield more immediate results.
Market access is a top priority for Alberta. Our reputation as a world-class supplier of food, energy and other exports is at risk if we are unable to meet the needs of our customers in a timely fashion.
It is imperative that appropriate steps are taken to improve the efficiency of our rail transportation network. The status quo is not an option.
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