Minister of Transport, the Hon. Marc Garneau, supported by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Hon. Lawrence MacAulay recently introduced transportation legislation that will improve the industry鈥檚 ability to consistently and reliably meet customer demands.
鈥淐ereals Canada welcomes the legislative changes to grain transportation,鈥� stated Cam Dahl, President of Cereals Canada. 鈥淭he grain, oilseed and special crops industries have been united in our call for measures that will help ensure railway accountability for performance. The legislation today will help correct the imbalance between the market power of the railways and captive shippers.鈥�
The legislation includes the following key elements:
鈥ools that will allow shippers to hold railways financially accountable for their service performance;
鈥mproved processes through the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA);
鈥larification of railway responsibility in the Canada Transportation Act by better defining adequate and suitable service;
鈥ermanent access to long-haul interswitching options (vs. temporary extended interswitching); and
鈥ncreased requirements for reporting and railway contingency planning.
鈥淭he grain industry is captive to monopoly carriers,鈥� continued Dahl. 鈥淚t is good economic policy for legislation to balance this market power through measures that mimic what would occur if there were open competition. The policies announced today would accomplish this goal.鈥�
鈥淲hile the most important part of the legislation is the increase in railway accountability, all of these provisions are important,鈥� noted Dahl.
