Government acts to get grain moving in Western Canada

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced today concrete measures being taken by the [Canadian] Government to move more grain through the transportation system and maintain Canada’s reputation as a supplier to world markets.

Minister Raitt announced an Order in Council (OIC) to take immediate effect, setting out minimum volumes of grain that Canadian National Railway Company and Canadian Pacific Railway Company are each required to move. The Order, under section 47(1) of the Canada Transportation Act, also requires the railways to report to the Minister of Transport on weekly shipments.

The railways will be required to increase the volumes carried each week, over a period of four weeks, to a combined target of 1,000,000 metric tonnes per week – more than doubling the volume currently being moved.

The Order creates direct legal obligations on railways and will result in penalties for non-compliance of up to $100,000 per day.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced that the Government will introduce legislation when Parliament returns to establish measures to ensure Canada maintains a world-class logistics system that gets agricultural products to market more efficiently...

This has been excerpted from the 7 March 2014 news release by Transport Canada & Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and is available in its entirety at http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?mthd=index&crtr.page=1&nid=822889.