The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is concerned over the CN Rail strike.
APAS Vice President Ian Boxall says this is the last thing farmers need after an already tough year.
“Farmers are faced with some cash flow issues and if we're not able to get our product to port, we don't get paid for it. So this strike - and CN moves 50% of the grain in Saskatchewan, services right around 60 elevators - it’s a huge issue for producers in Saskatchewan.”
He says the trickle down effect of this strike will have implications across the country.
CN is the only one servicing the Port of Prince Rupert and Hudson Bay Port of Churchill; so there’s nothing moving there and everyday lost cannot be gained back.
“So, not only can we not ship our grain to have cash flow. That will trickle down eventually, and we’ll be paying for that demerge on all those vessels sitting in port too. And not only a strike this week this is a disaster for the Canadian economy, but also the fact that CN earlier this week laid off 1600 employees.”
He notes we’ve had a rail crisis three or four times in the last five years and it’s just every year there’s a shipping issue with our product.
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