Editorial: The kids are alright

As a slightly curmudgeonly older father, raised in the free-range parenting heyday of the 1970s, I will admit that it’s not uncommon to find myself rolling my eyes at kids today. With their “everyone gets a medal” and “safe spaces,” I’ve found myself wondering just how prepared these kids will be for the real world.

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


Scrapping maximum revenue entitlement will double farmers’ freight bill

Scrapping maximum revenue entitlement will double farmers’ freight bill

Agricultural economist Derek Brewin concludes the MRE works for farmers 
and the railways and has resulted in a more efficient system

Western Canadian farmers will pay the railways at least double what they do now to ship grain if the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) is phased out as recommended in the Emerson Report. “The increase is somewhere between 100 and 150 per cent in real rates if we remove the MRE,” University of Manitoba agricultural economist

Photo: File/Allan Dawson

Proposed transportation legislation gets thumbs up from grain industry

It might feel like Christmas came early for grain grower organizations, who have long been calling for reform of grain transportation regulations. The Federal government has promised to introduce legislation in early 2017 that is going to check some items off their wish list. Transport Minister Marc Garneau unveiled the federal government’s plans in a

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


KAP president Dan Mazier was looking forward to discussing grain transportation issue face to face with Transport Minister Marc Garneau Oct. 20.

Farmers get Garneau meeting

KAP’s Dan Mazier and other farm leaders were to get a face-to-face meeting with the transport minister October 20 in Saskatoon to discuss changes to the Canada Transportation Act

If all goes according to plan, western Canadian farm leaders are finally going to get a chance to bend Marc Garneau’s ear. They’ve long been seeking a face to face with the federal transport minister, to tell him what changes they’d like to see to grain transportation under the Canada Transportation Act. KAP’s Dan Mazier

(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.

(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


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,

CP railway engine and grain cars

CP CEO says company ready for bumper crop, shippers skeptical

Company says new investments will increase ability to move a big crop

The CPR says it’s ready to move a bumper crop, but agriculture industry observers remain somewhat skeptical. CP CEO Hunter Harrison said, in a recent letter to Transport Minister Marc Garneau, the company is aware a big crop is on the horizon and is prepared for it. “I think it is good news that CP