Mississauga MP Omar Alghabra is Canada’s new federal transport minister. (Omar Alghabra video screengrab via YouTube)

Trudeau names new transport, foreign affairs ministers

Garneau to handle foreign policy; Omar Alghabra takes transport

Ottawa | Reuters — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named new ministers for foreign affairs and transport on Tuesday ahead of an election that insiders in his Liberal Party say is likely this year. Trudeau’s hand was forced when Innovations Minister Navdeep Bains, 43, unexpectedly announced he was resigning from politics for family reasons. Bains, who […] Read more

Smoke rises from the site of burning railcars at a CP derailment near Guernsey, Sask., on Feb. 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Nayan Sthankiya)

Garneau re-adjusts train speed limits

New limits in place for 'key trains' with dangerous goods

Having cut speed limits for trains hauling dangerous goods following a fiery derailment earlier this month, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau is adjusting those limits for a “more targeted” approach. Garneau announced Sunday he has pulled his Feb. 6 ministerial order on speed limits and replaced it with a new one affecting so-called “key trains” […] Read more


Smoke rises from the site of burning railcars at a CP derailment near Guernsey, Sask., on Feb. 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Nayan Sthankiya)

Canada to cut speed limits for trains hauling dangerous goods

New curb follows another Saskatchewan crash, fire

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — The federal government said Thursday it would impose temporary speed limits on trains hauling dangerous goods after a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) crude oil train derailed and caught fire. The accident, which happened in the early hours of Thursday near Guernsey, Sask., about 40 km south of Humboldt, was the second […] Read more



Marie-Claude Bibeau speaks at a Montreal convention on March 7, 2019.  Photo: Allan Dawson/File

Bibeau remains federal agriculture minister in shuffle

Updated, Nov. 21— Quebec MP Marie-Claude Bibeau retains her role as federal minister of agriculture and agri-food in Wednesday’s cabinet shake-up for the Liberals’ minority government. Bibeau will join her colleagues — including returning Transport Minister Marc Garneau and new Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, a Hamilton MP and former minister for seniors — in having […] Read more

The amendments will include many changes that shippers’ groups had sought including better extended interswitching terms and giving the Canadian Transportation Agency powers to investigate rail service issues.

Transport minister wins praise for agreeing to amendments

The federal transport minister will put forward a motion to accept Senate alterations to the bill

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley — along with many other farm groups — are praising the federal transport minister for accepting several amendments to his transport modernization bill. Now they want Marc Garneau to get working and ensure the bill is passed before Parliament’s summer break. Read more: Farmers seek ‘urgent’ action from Senate on rail […] Read more



(CPR.ca)

Saskatchewan presses for rail interswitching, revenue cap

Farm stakeholder groups and Prairie provincial agriculture ministers got their chance Thursday to bring their concerns about grain transportation by rail to the federal minister responsible. Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay held a roundtable meeting with grain sector representatives Thursday in Saskatoon, and met also with the Prairies’ agriculture ministers. […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Railways urge Ottawa to loosen grain hauling rules

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s big railways are pressing Ottawa to loosen rules around hauling the country’s crops — changes they say would improve efficiency but that farmers fear would weaken their bargaining power. A February report recommended that Ottawa institutes transportation system changes, including phasing out a 16-year-old cap on revenue that Canadian National […] Read more

(CPR.ca)

CP offers assurances for 2016-17 grain handle

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) says it’s ready and willing to move a bumper Prairie crop in 2016-17. “Operationally, CP is eager and prepared to move grain this coming crop year,” company CEO Hunter Harrison said in a letter to federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau. The letter, dated Tuesday, was also circulated to Prairie transportation and […] Read more