Grain transport improvements would hone service to some Eastern Canadian processors says working group chair

Friday, July 24, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

An agricultural industry group’s recommended improvements to Canada’s grain handling and transportation system, if adopted, would bolster service to Eastern Canadian flour millers and feed manufacturers, says the group’s chair.

The recommendations were part of the crop logistics working group’s final report identifying ways to improve Canada’s grain handling and transportation system. The report was recently submitted to the Canadian Transportation Act review panel, chaired by David Emerson, a former member of parliament from British Columbia, and to federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Murdoch MacKay, chair of the working group and a commissioner for the Canadian Grain Commission, says his group’s recommendations would result in better service “on a more reliable basis for” the flour millers and feed manufacturers located in Eastern Canada that buy Western Canadian grain.

The working group’s report contained eight recommendations, including the need for enhanced transparency in the rail market system and increased protection and support for small shippers.

More than 18 organizations from the grain handling and transportation industry, including farmers and processors, had representatives on the working group. The report is a “consensus of all of these organizations and consolidates the broadest agriculture-related recommendations to strengthen the grain supply chain,” says the federal government’s July 20 press release.

MacKay says working group representatives will be meeting with Emerson to give him an “overview (of the report) and answer any questions the panel has.” The Transportation Act review panel will issue its own report sometime in December containing recommendations to modernize the Transportation Act. BF