Ag Groups Seek Increased Transparency for Gain Shipping, Logistics Systems

Canadian agricultural groups are calling for increased transparency throughout Canada’s shipping logistics systems. 

With Canada’s two major railways expected to soon submit to the government their grain movement plans for the 2022-23 grain year, Canada’s agriculture industry at large has developed a four-point plan to ensure that farmers, processors, exporters, and consumers in Canada and around the world have confidence not only in these plans but in Canada’s overall ability to deliver.  

A joint release from the groups calls the 2022 harvest the most important in a generation, given the extreme pressure on the global food supply being caused by the war in Ukraine and global supply-chain challenges stemming from the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

“Canada has committed to countries around the world that we would be there to help feed them in their time of need. Canadian growers are ready and have invested to meet this challenge. With the eyes of the world on our system, it’s time for increased transparency to prove we can deliver,” said Kevin Auch, Chair, Pulse Canada. 

The groups’ four-point plan for transparency includes: 

• Providing detailed, transparent plans on how railways plan to move grain based on the template provided by the grain sector. Container lines serving Canada must also step up and provide a clear indication of the expected capacity of their programs that will be made available each month for agriculture exports. 
• Forming an Industry/Government Labour Council to track the progress of the collective agreement negotiations. There are 12 CN and CP labour agreements that are expired or will expire in 2022 alone. 
• Ensuring that railways and container lines provide monthly updates on their capacity plans. 
• Increasing support for comprehensive performance measurement programs – such as the Ag Transport Coalition for rail – to measure how service providers are meeting their plans and outline improvements for the future. 

As part of its effort, the 10 ag groups, including the Canola Council of Canada and the Western Grain Elevator Association, earlier this week launched the “Canada’s Ready” campaign – a grassroots public awareness campaign to show Canadians and the world that domestic farmers, processors and exporters are ready to step up and deliver. 

The campaign encourages anyone working in the agriculture industry to participate by taking a photo on the job and sharing it online with the hashtag #CanadasReady.