The Agricultural Producers Association disagrees with the Canadian Pacific Railway’s decision to close at least 10 producer car loading sites in Saskatchewan. In a letter to Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau, APAS is requesting a moratorium on the closure of producer car loading sites until a full review of railway costs is completed. The letter also requests legislative changes to ensure that the closure of urban and rural sidings are subject to the same requirements.
“Producer car loading is an important source of competition and innovation in Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry,” said APAS President Todd Lewis.
Lewis also pointed out that once a loading site is listed for discontinuance, it is extremely difficult to have the site re-listed for service at a later date.
“Although demand for producer cars has declined in recent years, our industry is very dynamic,” Lewis said. “There is the potential that crop diversification and increased production could lead to more demand in the future.”
Grain producers have a legislative right to order rail cars through the Canadian Grain Commission under the Canada Grains Act. This is to ensure that producers have meaningful access to market their grains using Canada’s rail network. However, in the last decade, Canadian railways have been closing public loading sites at an accelerated rate. If these closures proceed, the number of loading sites on CP rail lines in Saskatchewan will be reduced to 26, down from 79 in 2005.
Although the numbers of sidings have decreased dramatically over the years, the railways are currently compensated for maintaining the same number of sidings that existed in 1992. “The Maximum Revenue Entitlement program’s formula is clearly out of date,” Lewis said. “What we are saying to the Minister is no more closures until we get a costing review to bring it in line with today’s operating environment.”
The sites currently affected by CPR’s decision include Midale in the RM of Cymri, along with Tompkins – RM of Gull Lake; Cupar – RM of Cupar; Markinch – RM of Cupar; Grand Coulee – RM of Lumsden; Wilcox – RM of Bratt’s Lake; Moosomin – RM of Moosomin; Tisdale – RM of Connaught/Tisdale; Qu’Appelle – RM of South Qu’Appelle; and Duval – RM of Last Mountain Valley.
