Deliveries delayed by months

Following a season of higher-than-expected grain production on the Prairies, farmers are now faced with the most severe backlog in years, with many deliveries for wheat, oats, barley and other products lagging months behind schedule.

The business groups are asking Ottawa to refrain from issuing the order, which was last used in 201314 by former prime minister Stephen Harper when grain shipments were similarly backlogged.

“It gets the farmers off their backs, but it’s bad policy,” said Pierre Gratton, CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, which is part of the coalition.

Mining firms in Canada account for roughly 48 per cent of total shipper volumes on Canada’s rail system, the association said, while grain suppliers account for about 13 per cent. It said that many of its members have also been suffering backlogs in recent months, including coal miners in southern B.C., copper and nickel miners in Manitoba and refiners in Ontario.

Opposition MPs have been calling on the Liberals to step in immediately to alleviate delays, but the government has been hesitant to compel rail companies to move mandatory volumes of grain. Last week the Minister of Transport, along with Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay, told CN and CP in a letter that they were “disappointed” in the ongoing grain delays, and gave the companies until March 15 to respond with plans to address the backlogs.

The business associations are now pushing for lastminute amendments to Bill C-49 they argue will better address what it considers systemic shortcomings in Canada’s rail system. and

currently have an advantage over shippers, the coalition said, and Ottawa’s latest attempt to reform Canada’s rail system doesn’t go far enough in addressing those issues.

The coalition is seeking two amendments that would give the Canadian Transpor-