Canada won’t tell railways where to ship grain for now

[westernvicki]

Farming is the most amazing way of life in the world, I agree, my kids are all part of our farm, we brought them up like we were brought up to believe.

This is a competitive world today, Australia has openly moved to streamline their system from seed to shipments inviting open competition.

We can afford the inefficiencies of service and the failure to support value added opportunity today less than ever.

Ongoing failure to insure a logistical process with competitive efficient access will affect your farm more today than ever, very simply because the seeping loss of residual income due in large part to failure to serve by the railways, is met with others doing better & eating our lunch.

[TOM4CWB]

Brave, perhaps we should give Via a charter for all Canadian Rails... and it can buy nice new locomotives... and make scads of money hauling grain, Fertilizer, and potash... to supplement its passenger service lack of profit!

What do you think, with the close to 60 percent returns CNCP are estimated to have extracted, perhaps some competition needs to be enacted in our grain shipments?

[bucket]

Most here that rah rah the government railways and the removal of the revenue cap don't realize how much we have lost to other competitors due to a failure in our logistics.

Not individually, but as a whole.

The farm community can not continue to lose.

And the railways, like government, shouldn't be picking winners and losers.

It's bad for the whole of Canada.

[sumdumguy]

I know who should have been Ag minister. Hey, VD? It's time we had some value adding taking place in politics.

[bucket]

I tell you what Tom.

They could offer a package where you could tag along in a passenger car with the grain and make the deal at the west coast. Just like fish markets.

I would take a tour following my grain a couple times.

[sawfly]

this just gets better and better.

why are we wasting time , talking about a 50,000$ fine. considering what it has COST EVERYONE OF US

it is beyond a f ing joke.

How can a transport minister pretend to be hardline with her 50,000 $ fine.
( what planet is she on)
then to say " i am a market girl"
" I believe in the market"

just f ing shoot me, put me out of my misery.

an Organized crime like monopoly in charge of western canada transportation system.
is what this govt. calls a market.


Vicki , you are right on,

no matter how hard we work or how efficient we get, they can steal it all.

i do not care how we crush this arrogant monopoly. public, private
whatever. it has to go.

any govt. that sells out it's nations economic future like this does not deserve to govern.

"market solutions" do not work with a monopoly as proven by the last 50 years.

even hard core conservatives can
see this , why doesn't Harper?

third world share croppers ,
that's what we are

[Braveheart]

Tom, isn't VIA an offshoot of CN?

You mentioned 60% return for CNCP. I wondered if selling and leasing motive power, laying off workers, taking rolling stock out of service to decrease the capital investment and thereby increase return on investment would put both railroads way over the revenue cap? If so, all Hunter's efficiency gains should be returned to farmers n'est pas?

Maybe all those railbeds are on native land and broken treaties might lead to land claims. I'll bring it up at the next band council meeting.

[BreadWinner]

We have to start thinking outside the box and stop being handfed. Railways wont be told what to do, do you like being dictated to in your business??? Farmers are good at sucking hind tit. Pay the railroads I say and get rid of this glut. The elevators will pay more if we weren't lined up on their driveways. Sure the cp and cn might make a bit more but so will farmers.

[Braveheart]

Breadwinner, I agree, and we strive for that in our business but that's not an option for all farms.

The rail business is different in that they have an ethical and social responsibility to provide service. Their customers are captive. Their service is essential.

I believe in the free market but, this segment has special considerations.

[samhill]

We could send hopper bottoms to Vancouver and ThunderBay. Starting October, convoys East and West at 80% speed limit in both lanes or long lines where two lanes. With all the trucks now on highways this would create problems. Don't think you can unload trucks at Vancouver tho.