The Canadian Transportation Agency has been told to reconsider level-of-service complaints against CN after the original findings were struck down in court.

Appeal Court reverses CTA rulings against CN

The Federal Court of Appeal says the regulatory agency made errors in assessing car shortfalls in 2014

The Federal Court of Appeal has struck down rulings by the Canadian Transportation Agency that CN breached a level-of-service obligation in early 2014. The CTA said the failure was related to supplying two Prairie grain companies with sufficient hopper cars during the frigid early months of 2014. Justice Marc Nadon ruled the CTA “made unreasonable



Farmers from the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and Keystone Agricultural Producers toured the Port of Vancouver last week, including Cargill’s grain terminal.

Western Canada’s publicly owned grain cars need replacing

Who will own the new ones and who will pay for them?

One thing most farmers and the railways agree on is the current fleet of aging government and publicly owned grain hopper cars soon needs to be replaced. Doug MacDonald, CN’s vice-president of bulk commodities, told representatives from the Alberta Federation of Agriculture (AFA), Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and Manitoba’s Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) Nov.

Grain shippers of all types are heralding promised changes to the transportation regulatory environment announced Nov. 3 by Transport Minister Marc Garneau.

Grain sector hails transport reform

But some farm groups worry about the future of the maximum revenue entitlement

Farm groups, grain shippers, crop processors and supply chain organizations are all praising Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s plan to make Canada’s grain transportation system more competitive. But some farm groups are uneasy about the future of the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE). Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal Nov. 3 Garneau announced legislation

Good grain transportation is vital to Manitoba farmers and their customers, Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler told the 21st annual Fields on Wheels grain transportation conference Oct. 21.

Farmers pay the freight

That’s the message Transportation Minister Marc Garneau heard two weeks before he unveils a plan to revamp Canada’s transportation system

Western farm leaders’ meeting with Transportation Minister Marc Garneau in Saskatoon Oct. 20 appears to have been just in time. Garneau is scheduled to present his strategic plan for the future of Canadian transportation Nov. 3 in Montreal to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. The plan, which follows a review of the Canada


grain cars

Emerson speaks out on CTA review reaction

The former cabinet minister says the report that bears his name wasn’t intended to address the challenges of today

David Emerson says people are getting bogged down in the detail and missing the big picture of a report on the Canada Transportation Act. The former federal cabinet minister chaired a five-member panel that authored the report, and these were his first public remarks since presenting the report to government last December. “The report was

Prairie farmer groups want a meeting with federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau, shown here speaking in May at an international transportation summit in Leipzig, Germany.

KAP, APAS seek meeting with Garneau

Consultations on amending the transportation act end Sept. 16 and farm leaders say the minister needs to hear directly from farmers

When the then newly elected Liberal government promised further consultation on changes to the Canada Transportation Act, farm groups reacted with relief. Now that relief is turning to frustration and worry. Neither the Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP), Manitoba’s general farm organization, nor the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, have met with Transport Minister Marc Garneau,

Scott Streiner

CTA president says regulatory agency open for business

The agency is beefing up its informal mediation service that’s less costly and time-consuming 
than the quasi-judicial adjudication process

Scott Streiner is a name railway executives instantly recognize, but not most farmers… yet. That will change as the relatively new president and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) continues to reach out to Canada’s agricultural sector, as he did on July 7 at the Pulse and Special Crops Convention. “The agency is here to


Grain shippers say the now-extended temporary measures have stimulated competition within the system where before none existed.

Grain-shipping measures extended one year

Grain companies and farm group welcome the move and vow to keep the pressure on Ottawa for a permanent solution

Pleased and relieved. That’s how western Canadian grain farmers and elevator companies are reacting to a one-year extension of emergency grain-shipping measures first implemented by the former Conservative government in 2014 to address a backlog in grain shipping. The four key provisions, which came into effect under the Fair Rail for Farmers Act, were set

Transportation, energy and agriculture

Grain elevator group gives Emerson report thumbs down

After careful consideration, the WGEA concludes the report is flawed because it wrongly assumes rail competition exists in Canada

The association representing the largest grain handlers in Western Canada is breaking its silence and giving the Emerson report on transportation a failing grade. The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) represents the six major grain firms and approximately 90 per cent of the West’s grain handle. WGEA says the fundamental issue appears to be that