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By Alice McFarlane

Rail Blockade

Farmers frustrated by rail blockades

Feb 14, 2020 | 2:44 PM

Some headway has been made to end the rail blockades across the country.

CN Rail confirmed a blockade set up on the line into Prince Rupert B.C. was lifted overnight.

Farm leaders continued to urge the federal government to bring a quick resolution to the dispute that has virtually shut down freight and passenger rail service across the country.

Grain Growers of Canada Chair Jeff Nielsen said seeing the blockade at Prince Rupert come down is encouraging but it’s going to take time as a CN has the only line that ships grain to Prince Rupert.

“Prince Rupert terminal itself is out of grain. There are, I believe, seven to nine ships waiting. That’s a record for ships waiting in Prince Rupert so it’s going to take quite a bit of movement to get significant grain back up there,” he said. “Plus, it’s a large container terminal for imports coming into Canada. You have those ships also waiting in port to unload their containers that are vital to our retail sector in Canada. There’s a lot counting on that port.”

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Vancouver wasn’t hit as hard but the big question on everyone’s mind is these blockades can start up anytime. Nielsen said that worries him.

“It is an extreme hardship for the grain sector as 85 to 90 per cent of all our grains are exported and they have to be moved by rail,” he said. “The ships waiting at anchor in Vancouver and Prince Rupert right now are going to start incurring demurrage and that gets passed back to the farmer. It’s a double whammy. We’re getting hit by protests that have nothing to do with our sector yet it’s delaying shipments of our top quality products to our customers.”

Rail issues in 2013-14 and 2017-18 as well as the CN Rail strike in November caused setbacks. Nielsen said the delays frustrate customers who can’t get the products they want in a timely fashion.

“Customers, after a certain period time, will start looking for their product elsewhere. They’ve been bitten. This will be the third time they’ve been bitten. Why would they want to come back to a country that can’t get a product to export position in a timely fashion?” he said.

Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission Chair Brett Halsted said farmers feel the effects of rail disruptions.

“It affects cash flow and then it affects the prices I get for my product a month or two months down the line. If there’s going to be a backlog and the company doesn’t know how long it’s gonna last, how anxious are they to fill their orders with more grain that might or might not move on time?” he said. “Road bands will hit here in another month to month and a half and we’ll be into seeding after that. There’s limited opportunities through the winter.”

Halstead said many farmers still have crop to take off before seeding starts.

“That’s going to add to the stress, the workload and time commitment that’s going to be required to get another crop in. Things just haven’t been looking that good the last little while.”

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF