Canada’s Labour Minister Kellie Leitch said Wednesday the federal government plans to introduce back-to-work legislation to deal with a potential strike at Canadian National Railway (CN). “Today, our Conservative government is taking action to protect Canada’s economy and Canadian grain farmers by indicating our intention to introduce legislation to make sure CN stays on track,” […] Read more
Back-to-work legislation planned against possible CN strike
CN conductors may strike Saturday at earliest
The union for Canadian National Railway’s (CN) conductors, trainmen and yardmen has filed notice that its workers may hit the bricks by Saturday (Feb. 8) at the earliest. CN reported Wednesday morning it had received 72 hours’ notice from the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) of its intention to have about 3,000 unionized CN staff […] Read more
AGI to take up GrainVac product line
Grain handling equipment firm Ag Growth International (AGI) has brought another Prairie manufacturer into its bin with a deal to buy the GrainVac product line. Winnipeg-based AGI closed its deal Monday to buy the GrainVac line from Swift Current, Sask. manufacturer Rem Enterprises, which has made and marketed GrainVacs for about 40 years. The manufacturing […] Read more
More detailed data sought on railways’ Prairie grain traffic
Federally-mandated reporting on grain traffic on Canada’s two main railways is now expected to show the flow on a weekly rather than monthly basis. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz dropped into Winnipeg Monday for meetings with members of the industry-led Crop Logistics Working Group (CLWG) and accepted a number of its “early recommendations” on improvements to […] Read more
Sask. launches pilot for farm worker training program
Saskatchewan’s regional colleges are to become home to new training programs for workers on the province’s farms, starting with a crop production course in March. The provincial and federal governments on Wednesday launched the pilot for an Agricultural Operator Program: three modules on seeding, spraying/scouting and harvest, to be delivered at Parkland Regional College in […] Read more
CN conductors, yardpeople vote to reject deal
Conductors, trainpersons, yardpersons and traffic co-ordinators on Canadian National Railway (CN) lines in Canada have voted to reject a proposed collective agreement that averted a work stoppage last fall. Montreal-based CN and the affected workers, represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), had reached a tentative three-year agreement in late October. The deal last […] Read more
Grain revenue offsets CN’s slightly lower year-end profit
Small improvements in grain revenue, on slightly fewer carloads, has helped offset slightly lower profits on record-level overall revenue in Canadian National Railway’s (CN) year-end ledger. Montreal-based CN on Thursday reported overall net income of $635 million on $2.745 billion in revenues for its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, up from $610 million on $2.534 […] Read more
Decision time for cattle tag dealers as CCIA reboots distribution
Your local retailer of CCIA-approved cattle tags has until the end of this week to decide whether to continue selling under a new dealer agreement starting Monday. Previous agreements, under which local veterinary offices and other eligible retailers have sold CCIA (Canadian Cattle Identification Agency) radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to producers, are terminated effective Feb. […] Read more
Jump in grain revenue helps CP to record gross
Substantially higher freight revenue per carload of grain, compared to 2012, has played a part in helping Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to its highest-grossing fourth quarter and year-end in 2013. Calgary-based CP on Wednesday announced overall net income of $82 million on a quarterly-record $1.607 billion in revenues for its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, […] Read more
Ont. hog industry backed for added biosecurity measures
Ontario hog producers can expect new public funding to help step up biosecurity at “critical points,” following the arrival of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in the province on at least two farms. The provincial government on Tuesday pledged $2 million for Ontario Pork to back “industry-wide investments to improve biosecurity measures at critical […] Read more
