On Parliament Hill

As the Member of Parliament for Provencher, I am pleased that the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act received Royal Assent on Friday May 30, 2014. Royal Assent is the final stage of the legislative process in which a bill becomes law.

In March of this year, our Government introduced legislation to address the rail capacity challenges currently affecting Western Canada after a historic crop yield. The Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act amends the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Grain Act, and implements additional measures to help Canadian grain get to market quickly and efficiently while maintaining a world-class system for transporting goods by rail.

This legislation is designed to:

• Increase supply chain transparency;
• Strengthen contracts between producers and shippers; and
• Help ensure the entire grain handling and transportation system is working at the top of its capacity.

We recognize that farmers and our economy need a system with the capacity to move what is grown. The challenge before us is unprecedented. This year’s Western Canadian crop, at 76 million tonnes, is 50% higher than average.

That is why our Government took action to get grain moving more efficiently in Western Canada. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) are now obliged to increase their capacity to each carry a minimum of 500,000 metric tonnes of grain per week and for them to report on the volume of grain moved each week.

The Government of Canada is also taking steps to address the medium and long-term implications of higher crop yields and extreme cold weather. Going forward, railways will be required to deliver more timely data on grain movements to better monitor the overall performance of the supply chain. The Canadian Transportation Agency will also gather information from all grain supply chain partners on shipping capacities and plans prior to each new crop year, and will advise the Minister of Transport whether specific grain volumes should be mandated for the coming year.

Having a strong supply chain benefits more than just farmers, it is essential for Canadian shippers to be competitive in domestic and international markets. Our Conservative Government remains focused on a way forward that will benefit all shippers selling every commodity, from grain to oil, and continue to grow our resource economy.