Garneau, Macaulay to meet with grain stakeholders over shipping

Rail execs, shippers, producers gather to prevent repeat of 2013-14 backlog disaster

The federal government doesn’t want to take any chances when it comes to preventing another costly grain backlog, like the one that left some Saskatchewan farmers struggling to get their crops to port this winter.

That is the rationale for what Transport Minister Marc Garneau described as a likely “unprecedented” closed-door meeting between himself, Agriculture Minister Lawrence Macaulay, railway executives, grain shippers and producer groups in Saskatoon this week.

“All of the different stakeholders will be there, and I think any exchange of information that occurs on that scale is a good thing … We all have the same interest at heart, and that is to move that grain efficiently,” Garneau said.

Saskatchewan grain farmers began ringing alarm bells about slow-moving grain shipments late last year. Thoughts turned to the 2013-14 grain year, when railway holdups are estimated to have cost western Canadian farmers $6.5 billion.

Agricultural groups from Saskatchewan and other provinces urged the federal government to pass Bill C-49, new legislation aimed, in part, at making railway access more reliable and the major railways more accountable.

Ottawa, meanwhile, applied pressure to Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. Both pledged to improve service, while CN issued an unprecedented apology to farmers and ousted its chief executive officer.

Both railways have committed to spend millions of dollars on new hopper cars — 1,000 for CN and 5,900 for CP — and submit to the federal government reports outlining their ability to move grain and contingency plans.

Garneau said both companies are expected to send senior executives to the meeting in Saskatoon. CN’S new CEO J.J. Ruest is expected to be among the railway executives in attendance at the meeting on Wednesday.

“We look forward to talking about our grain plan and the key steps CN has taken to put in place the people, equipment and infrastructure needed to meet coming demand,” CN spokeswoman Kate Fenske said Friday in an email.

Garneau, meanwhile, said while he can’t predict what the shippers and producers will say, the combination of Bill C-49 and action from the railways has prompted a “positive response” from the various groups. “I think we’re going into this with a new sense of optimism (for) moving grain.”

The grain meeting is part of the Liberal Party of Canada’s annual caucus retreat, which is expected to bring most, if not all, of the party ’s 183 Members of Parliament — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — to the city.

While Liberal MPS meet for two hours every Wednesday when the House of Commons is sitting, they are not together as a group over the summer and the retreat is aimed at bringing everyone up to speed on party business before the fall session.

Liberal caucus chairman and Lac-st-louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia said it is also an opportunity for MPS to inform their colleagues about what is happening in their ridings, as well as hear from the prime minister and other government ministers.

Saskatchewan has long been a difficult province for the country’s governing party. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is the province’s only Liberal MP, and the party has come under fire from the Saskatchewan Party government over pipelines and carbon pricing.

Scarpaleggia said the retreat is also a political opportunity.

“It’s an opportunity to reach out, to meet people of the area and give them a chance to get to know us as a larger group, and for us to get a clearer sense of how people in Saskatchewan feel about the national issues and their own particular priorities.”