GrainsWest Fall 2018

Fall 2018 grainswest.com 41 A C-49 TIMELINE Now that C-49 has become law, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane to revisit how a severe grain backlog five years ago perpetuated the birth of this historic bill. FALL 2013: Prairie farmers harvest a record crop, including 18 MMT of canola and 37.5 MMT of wheat. In Alberta, yield estimates were anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent above the 10-year average. WINTER 2013/14: The record harvest is followed by a very cold and lengthy winter. A rail backlog quickly becomes apparent and grain heading to the West Coast hits a virtual standstill, resulting in heavy demurrage and Canadian orders that disappeared because grain could not be moved into port position. Throughout the winter, grain farmers and industry groups make the rounds in Ottawa, testifying about the severe backlog and how it is hurting their cashflow, business and the country’s reputation with international grain buyers. MARCH 26, 2013: Spurred on by the bad situation for farmers, Gerry Ritz, then agriculture minister, sponsors and introduces Bill C-30, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act. This bill is a pre-cursor to C-49. The Act allows government to force CN and CP to move a minimum amount of grain specified in the Canada Transportation Act and facilitate the movement of grain. MAY 29, 2014: Bill C-30 becomes law. DEC. 21, 2015: David Emerson submits his transportation review, one-and-a-half years after being assigned the review by Lisa Raitt, then minister of transport. The goal of the review is to look forward 20 to 30 years and determine priorities and plans to make Canada prosperous via transportation. The review proposes many suggestions, such as a plan to end the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) within seven years, the inclusion of chickpeas and soybeans to the MRE and a sunset on interswitching. MAY 16, 2017: Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act, is brought into Parliament by minister of transport Marc Garneau. Ideas and content from the Emerson review re-surface as industry groups begin to meet with government and representatives of the grain industry value chain make their voices heard. WINTER 2017/18: A brutal winter leaves railway companies in a difficult situation and unable to move railcars into port position. CN Rail performs especially poorly, at times filling less than 60 per cent of weekly orders. MARCH 5, 2018: CN sacks its CEO Luc Jobin. In the coming months, the corporation announces the hiring of more than 1,000 new employees, pledging more than $3 billion related to infrastructure investments and the purchase of 1,000 new hopper cars and 200 locomotives. MAY 23, 2018: Bill C-49 becomes law and ushers in changes to Canada’s rail system never seen before. FALL 2018: Farmers harvest, as always, and the rest remains to be seen.