Canadian Pork Council Urges Federal Government to Intervene in CN Rail Disruptions
Ottawa, February 18, 2020
The Honourable Marc Garneau
Minister of Transport
mintc@tc.gc.ca
The Honourable Mary Ng
Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade
mary.ng@international.gc.ca
The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
aafc.minister-ministre.aac@canada.ca
Dear Ministers Garneau, Ng and Bibeau,
I am writing to you today regarding the disruption along rail lines by protestors throughout Canada. The Canadian Pork Council and its members are urging government intervention to seek a quick resolution.
After being impacted by the CN rail workers’ strike last fall, the meat industry’s supply chain and global distribution infrastructure are once again being interrupted, this time by blockades across the country. The industry is being forced to find alternatives to rail transport. Those alternatives are more costly and have a greater environmental impact.
We are monitoring the situation in case delayed fuel shipments cause a shortage in some areas. Pork producers rely on propane and natural gas to heat their barns and ensure the welfare of their animals. Producers may soon be forced to ration available supplies by lowering temperatures in barns, shops and homes.
Inadequate transport and storage systems, combined with this unexpected situation, directly hit the pocketbooks of the producers. These increased costs are not passed on to the consumers and have a great impact on the producers’ profitability. Not being able to rely on our transportation infrastructure is an added burden on an industry still reeling from trade issues with China; the country’s second-largest pork market.
Canada’s industry relies on a reliable and dependable transportation system to move products to market or supplies to our farms. We are requesting that government intervene to resolve this situation in a manner respects both the concerns of the Indigenous population and pork producers.
Sincerely,
Rick Bergmann