Fair Rail Freight Service Act Would Ensure Canadian Farmers Get Treated Fairly by Railways

Dec 11, 2012

Harper Government Seeks to Strengthen Rail Freight Service with New Bill

The Harper government is moving swiftly to strengthen rail freight service across the country with the introduction of the “Fair Rail Freight Service Act”. The bill will create an arbitration process that would allow the establishment of an agreement if and when commercial negotiations happen to fail.

The Honourable Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz and Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities the Honourable Denis Lebel announced the rail freight bill on Monday.

“To continue creating jobs and growth for the Canadian economy, agriculture producers and processors must be able to get their world class product to market in a reliable and efficient way,” said Minister Ritz.

The announcement follows some of the recommendations that were made by the Rail Freight Service Review Panel in 2011. The report recommended the creation of bilateral service agreements between shippers and railways would bring more clarity and reliability in rail service. The bill is especially good for farmers who rely on rail freight as part of the supply chain to ship their crops.

Video: USDA Feb Crop Report a WIN for Soybeans + 1 Year Trade Truce Extension

USDA took Trumps comments that China would buy more U.S. soybeans seriously and headline news that the U.S./China trade truce would be extended when Trump/Xi meet in the first week of April was a BIG WIN for soybeans this week! 2026 “Mini” U.S. ethanol boom thanks to 45Z + China’s ban of phosphates from Feb. – August of 2026 will not help lower fertilizer prices anytime soon! 30 mmt of Chinese corn harvest is of poor quality and maybe a technical breakout in wheat futures.

*Apologies! Where we talk about the latest CFTC update as of 10th Feb 2026, managed money funds covered their net short position in canola to the tune of +42,746 week-on-week to flip to net long 145 contracts and not (as we mistakenly said) +90,009 wk/wk to 47,408.