More delays raise frustration levels among farmers

Parties trade blame as legislation aimed at backlogs stalls

Farm groups are growing increasingly frustrated as Canada’s two main political parties blame each other for further delaying new legislation intended to prevent another costly grain backlog.

Bill C-49, which aims to make the railways more accountable and grain transportation more reliable, can’t pass into law until at least May 22 after a recorded vote was ordered Friday morning.

It is merely the latest setback for the omnibus bill, which the Liberal government introduced last May and originally hoped would pass into law before Christmas.

“Hopefully, both houses are going to get down to it here and let it pass and get on to royal assent,” Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan President Todd Lewis said in an interview.

While Lewis adopted a philosophical approach, observing that the aim of getting the bill in place before the next shipping season remains achievable, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) took a sharper tone.

In a letter to Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer, GGC President Jeff Nielsen said the latest delay means farmers likely won’t be able to take full advantage of the legislation this year.

“The time has come to put partisan politics and procedural tactics aside and for parliamentarians to do what is best for grain farmers by passing C-49,” Nielsen wrote.

Farmers, agriculture groups and the Saskatchewan government have all urged Ottawa to pass C-49, which they say will make it easier to get prairie crops to market.

Their support of the bill comes at the tail end of a major grain backlog, similar to the one estimated to have cost Western Canada $6.5 billion in 2013-14.

The cost of this year’s backlog is not known but is thought to be significant.

The Liberals and Conservatives, meanwhile, pointed fingers at each other after the bill failed on Friday to clear the House — which does not sit next week — and move on to the Senate for approval and, then, royal assent.

At issue are two amendments to the bill which the Senate, in a rare move, sent back to the House after MPs accepted some but rejected most of the red chamber’s original proposed amendments.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he is “disappointed” the bill did not pass into law Friday, because the railways and other organizations need as much time as possible to prepare for and implement the new rules.

Garneau questioned why the Conservatives would for “partisan and political” reasons disagree with the government’s rejection of the two amendments, thereby forcing a vote that cannot take place for 11 days.

“To pretend on the one hand that you’re an ally of the farmer and on the other hand unnecessarily delay this bill to me is pure politics, and it’s not something we should be playing,” he said.

Conservative Transport Critic and Saskatchewan MP Kelly Block put the blame squarely on the Liberals for not accepting the Senate’s amendments weeks ago, or simply passing the two amendments proposed this week.

In the latter case, Block said, the Liberals could have ensured the bill was on the Governor General’s desk Friday by backing down when their motion to oppose the two amendments failed a “voice vote.”

“We’re all disappointed to see that (Garneau) and his caucus have not recognized that these were very reasonable technical amendments,” Block said.