Mandatory extension of rail car interswitching and tighter grain freight regulations may “placate a vocal constituency” but will do little to move more grain and may harm Canadian businesses, Canadian National Railway (CN) warns. The federal government on Wednesday introduced a package of legislative amendments promising increased regulatory oversight for rail grain freight and new […] Read more
CN rips feds’ planned rail interswitching expansion
Saputo to shut two Alta. powdered milk plants
Two plants producing powdered and condensed milk in Alberta are set to close by the end of next year as Montreal dairy giant Saputo folds their operations into other facilities. Saputo announced Wednesday it will close its plants at Wetaskiwin, about 60 km south of Edmonton, and at Glenwood, about 80 km southwest of Lethbridge. […] Read more
Ottawa tightens rail service agreements, boosts rail switching range
Federal legislation tightening the terms of grain freight service agreements between shippers and railways — and allowing some captive shippers a wider radius in which to shift cars to another railway — is now on the table. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt introduced what’s dubbed the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers […] Read more
Manitoba eases spring load limits for grain trucks
Grain will be an “essential commodity” this year during Manitoba’s spring thaw, for the purposes of trucking grain on the province’s minor highways. The provincial government on Monday announced a “special one-time amendment” to its spring weight restrictions on provincial roads, so as to “enable farmers to be nimble and react quickly to changes in […] Read more
Grain firms warn railways swamping ports with grain
Canada’s big two railways, under mandatory federal performance targets for grain freight, are now flooding the West Coast and Thunder Bay with grain, the Western Grain Elevator Association warns. Prairie grain elevator companies can handle the 11,000 cars a week the federal government has ordered the railways to move — but some of those cars […] Read more
B.C. introduces back-to-work law for port truckers
Legislation to buy Port Metro Vancouver 90 days of labour peace with its unionized container truckers has gone through first reading in British Columbia’s legislature. Provincial Labour Minister Shirley Bond on Monday introduced Bill 25, the Port Metro Vancouver Container Trucking Services Continuation Act, imposing a 90-day “cooling-off” period for 250 striking container truckers represented […] Read more
Backlogs at port may short feds’ orders on grain freight: CN
Canadian National Railway (CN) reports it’s “regaining fluidity” in its rail network and approaching the federal government’s mandated targets for grain freight, but warns grain flow may soon slow if it piles up at port. CN on Monday said it spotted 4,456 hopper cars for loading at country grain elevators in Western Canada during crop […] Read more
CWB building new grain capacity in southern Manitoba
Having already bought its way into the Prairie grain handling system, the grain firm formerly known as the Canadian Wheat Board is now getting ready to build. CWB, as the Winnipeg grain pooling agency is now called, announced Monday it has already started site work on its first new elevator, a 33,900-tonne capacity steel-storage high-throughput […] Read more
CN, conductors agree to talks, possible arbitration
Having voted down two negotiated deals in the past six months, unionized conductors, trainmen and yardmen with Canadian National Railway (CN) have agreed to go to binding arbitration with the company if need be. CN on Saturday said the workers have agreed to a “last chance” offer to enter negotiations for a contract settlement, “on […] Read more
Another hog virus arrives in Canada, PED tests find
Tests checking for the presence of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) show another virus causing diarrhea in hogs has now made its way into Canada, again in Ontario. Ontario’s Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) on March 14 confirmed swine deltacoronavirus (SDCV) in samples from six hog farms, the provincial ag ministry said Tuesday in a release. SDCV […] Read more
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