Ottawa revamps rules, penalties for moving grain

Legislation will boost accountability for poor service, performance issues

Agriculture groups roundly welcomed a federal government plan to reform the country’s grain transportation system, saying the promised changes will improve accountability while benefiting the economy.

The legislation, expected next spring, is to include penalties for rail companies and grain shippers that don’t meet service level agreements, address extended interswitching limits — the transfer of traffic between two railway companies — and provide a clear definition of adequate and suitable service.

“Shippers need the ability to negotiate penalties and contract terms equal to those being charged by the railways in order to create a more competitive marketplace,” said Kevin Auch, chairman of the Alberta Wheat Commission.

“It is great to see that both the provincial and federal governments were listening to the recommendations that were put forward by AWC and farm groups across Canada and that we will see permanent changes in place for improvements.”

Farmers want interswitching kept at a distance of at least 160 kilometres to allow producers to have access to more rail lines.

The second-largest crop on record is expected this year and farmers fear a repeat of the 2013-2014 rail bottleneck, when much of the harvest was left in bins for months.

Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway were then accused of making oil and other products a higher priority than grain.

The rail companies said that wasn’t fair because frigid weather forced them to use shorter cars to ensure brakes could be used safely.

The smaller cars in turn cut down on capacity.

Both CP and CN have said they’re ready to move the crop this year.

The president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers welcomed Thursday’s announcement, particularly the decision to allow reciprocal penalties against rail companies and customers who don’t respect agreements.

“The announced legislative changes coming in this regard will increase commercial accountability, providing recourse for farmers and shippers, and addressing poor service and performance issues,” Levi Wood said in a joint statement with the organization’s chairman, Jim Wickett.

The Transport 2030 plan outlined by federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau also included commitments to work with territorial government and indigenous peoples to assess transportation needs in the North and a promise to invest in clean public transit infrastructure.

Garneau said the government would also work to create clear guidelines for drones, and announced the government is certifying Canada’s first unmanned air vehicle test site in Foremost, Alta.

Ottawa will also implement rules to require railways to install video and voice-recording devices in locomotives, he said.

The devices would be used to investigate accidents such as the 2013 train derailment that killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Que.

“Accidents will always happen but we need to learn from our experience to help avoid them in the future,” Garneau said.

The president and CEO of Canadian National Railway welcomed the announcement on recording devices, calling it “an important safety initiative.”

“Regulators on both sides of the border recognize the value of these devices,” Luc Jobin said in a statement.

“We believe this technology is a powerful and important tool in the investigative process to get to a better understanding of causation, which will lead to improved safety practices — something we all want.”

It is great to see ... governments were listening to the recommendations put forward by AWC and farm groups across Canada ...