Farm groups say they can’t get grain transport meeting with transport minister
EDMONTON — The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says the federal government isn’t paying enough attention to concerns from farmers about a report that calls for major changes to grain rail transportation.
President Ron Bonnett says another bumper crop is on the way and farmers are worried about a repeat of a rail bottleneck in 2013-2014 that cost the economy billions of dollars.
The federation says it wants Transport Minister Marc Garneau to consider the input of farmers as he reviews the report that calls for overhauling the Canada Transportation Act.
Bonnett says he has been asking for a meeting with Garneau since April that would include farm leaders from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, but nothing is in the works.