(The following story by Larry Kusch appeared on the Winnipeg Free Press website on March 24.)
WINNIPEG — Prairie and national farm leaders will demand this morning that Ottawa conduct a formal review of rail grain handling costs in light of what they say are exorbitant profits and declining service by the country’s two largest railways.
The farm leaders will be reacting to a study commissioned by the Canadian Wheat Board, the results of which will be released at a press conference at a grain terminal immediately northwest of Winnipeg in the RM of Rosser.
“Our study shows that they (CN Rail and CP Rail) are actually making way, way, way above what was considered a fair and reasonable rate of return under the former WGTA (Western Grain Transportation Act),” said wheat board spokeswoman Maureen Fitzhenry. She refused to provide specific figures in advance of the 11 a.m. news conference.
The WGTA, which did away with the historic Crowsnest Pass freight rate, set limits on grain freight increases to farmers. It was repealed more than a decade ago.
A full rail costing review has not been conducted for 17 years, Fitzhenry said.
Since then, there has been a dramatic consolidation of the Prairie grain elevator network, which has led to considerable rail hauling efficiencies, she said.
The wheat board, a major shipper of Prairie grain, hired California-based railway analyst John Edsforth to study railway freight rates and costs.
The CWB has shared the results with several farm groups, who will be speaking out at the news conference.
Those groups include: the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, National Farmers Union, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers as well as the wheat board.
“Farmers are going to be demanding that something be done in response to this,” Fitzhenry said of the study.