Agriculture leaders Canpotex, Fertilizer Canada, Strathcona Resources, and others joined Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit to share concerns a possible shutdown of Canada's railways."Simply put, the impending rail stoppage would be disastrous," Terry Youzwa said on behalf of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers at the joint press conference Thursday.Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway have threatened to lock out workers on August 22, while the Teamsters Union representing railway workers said they are ready to go on strike that day.The Saskatchewan stakeholders said a train stoppage would spike already high food prices and damage Canada's trade relationships."When grain doesn't move, farmers don't get paid. It means fewer foreign dollars that can enter the Canadian economy, so the impacts are going to be felt by Canadian consumers at the grocery store — both in terms of price and supply," said Wade Sobkowich, president of the Western Grain Elevator Association.Marit maintains hope a deal can be worked out before August 22 and urged Ottawa to do all it could to ensure the trains don't stop, causing economic loss."This has the impact of every citizen of this country — not just a farmer, or a rancher, or an oil company, or a potash mine," Marit said."It would be hundreds of millions of dollars. There's still time for the parties to get back to the table. There's still time for the federal government to implement actions," Marit said. Murad Al-Katib, president, CEO and board member of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. warned a rail stoppage would have serious consequences. "Especially this is the case in the summer as farmers are getting in and out of the fields to commence their harvest, with some areas of our province already underway," Al-Katib said."It's the simple reality that the agriculture industry relies on rail to continually move our grain from farmer's bins to grain elevators, to processing facilities around the country and to our ports and to our clients."Al-Katib said the potential rail stoppage comes at a time farmers finally thought they were getting a break."The past seasons have been very tough in Saskatchewan, with three consecutive years of very significant drought and suboptimal conditions impacting our production levels," he said."This year, with the crop to ship looking very promising, we cannot be in a position where a disruption happens."Al-Katib also said that a rail strike wouldn't just disrupt service for its duration. He said days can lead to disruptions that last weeks to months for the affected sectors. AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. is calling for no rail work stoppage at all "There has to be fair policy mechanisms that come to deal with these types of issues while continuing to ensure that the product moves to markets," Al-Katib said. The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association (SCA) said the possible strike sends a poor message to the international market that Canada would have "such an unreliable piece of infrastructure in our country.""And it really sends a signal to our trading partners that we are not a reliable trading partner. And that has a significant impact to our agriculture sector. We are a commodity-based sector," the SCA said on Thursday."Of course we export a tremendous amount of goods, but on the other side we also import a tremendous amount of goods, in particular for our feeding herds."One railcar provides enough feed for 8,000 animals per day, SCA said."To duplicate that through trucking would take more than 1,000 Super B trucks each week. [It's] simply not a feasible replacement in terms of keeping our animal welfare and the welfare of our producers and operators in mind."Canadian National Railway schedules show that, starting Friday, they are barring container imports that originate at ports from New York City to Mexico.CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway have started to halt shipments that need cooler temperatures, such as meat and medicine, to avoid seeing stranded loads go bad in a work stoppage.
Agriculture leaders Canpotex, Fertilizer Canada, Strathcona Resources, and others joined Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit to share concerns a possible shutdown of Canada's railways."Simply put, the impending rail stoppage would be disastrous," Terry Youzwa said on behalf of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers at the joint press conference Thursday.Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway have threatened to lock out workers on August 22, while the Teamsters Union representing railway workers said they are ready to go on strike that day.The Saskatchewan stakeholders said a train stoppage would spike already high food prices and damage Canada's trade relationships."When grain doesn't move, farmers don't get paid. It means fewer foreign dollars that can enter the Canadian economy, so the impacts are going to be felt by Canadian consumers at the grocery store — both in terms of price and supply," said Wade Sobkowich, president of the Western Grain Elevator Association.Marit maintains hope a deal can be worked out before August 22 and urged Ottawa to do all it could to ensure the trains don't stop, causing economic loss."This has the impact of every citizen of this country — not just a farmer, or a rancher, or an oil company, or a potash mine," Marit said."It would be hundreds of millions of dollars. There's still time for the parties to get back to the table. There's still time for the federal government to implement actions," Marit said. Murad Al-Katib, president, CEO and board member of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. warned a rail stoppage would have serious consequences. "Especially this is the case in the summer as farmers are getting in and out of the fields to commence their harvest, with some areas of our province already underway," Al-Katib said."It's the simple reality that the agriculture industry relies on rail to continually move our grain from farmer's bins to grain elevators, to processing facilities around the country and to our ports and to our clients."Al-Katib said the potential rail stoppage comes at a time farmers finally thought they were getting a break."The past seasons have been very tough in Saskatchewan, with three consecutive years of very significant drought and suboptimal conditions impacting our production levels," he said."This year, with the crop to ship looking very promising, we cannot be in a position where a disruption happens."Al-Katib also said that a rail strike wouldn't just disrupt service for its duration. He said days can lead to disruptions that last weeks to months for the affected sectors. AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. is calling for no rail work stoppage at all "There has to be fair policy mechanisms that come to deal with these types of issues while continuing to ensure that the product moves to markets," Al-Katib said. The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association (SCA) said the possible strike sends a poor message to the international market that Canada would have "such an unreliable piece of infrastructure in our country.""And it really sends a signal to our trading partners that we are not a reliable trading partner. And that has a significant impact to our agriculture sector. We are a commodity-based sector," the SCA said on Thursday."Of course we export a tremendous amount of goods, but on the other side we also import a tremendous amount of goods, in particular for our feeding herds."One railcar provides enough feed for 8,000 animals per day, SCA said."To duplicate that through trucking would take more than 1,000 Super B trucks each week. [It's] simply not a feasible replacement in terms of keeping our animal welfare and the welfare of our producers and operators in mind."Canadian National Railway schedules show that, starting Friday, they are barring container imports that originate at ports from New York City to Mexico.CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway have started to halt shipments that need cooler temperatures, such as meat and medicine, to avoid seeing stranded loads go bad in a work stoppage.
