Discussion · Government Orders
James Bezan Conservative
“I support parts of this bill, but it should do more for farmers. Rail delays hurt producers in my riding when they try to ship grain to port. The government should let farmers choose which rail company moves their products, and make that rule permanent.”
“Mr. Speaker, I can tell members that there is some stuff in this legislation that we can support. I represent a large farming area in Manitoba, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, and I have an agriculture background. I can tell members that the grain and oilseed producers in my riding have always had a lot of concerns about how sometimes their products do not get moved quickly; sometimes there are disruptions in rail and at the ports. We lose the confidence that we need as a nation, as a reliable supplier of our agri-food products. There are three main parts in this bill. There is one section in here under the transportation side that talks about interswitching. Why has the current government not put permanently in place the interswitching of rail so that our grain farmers, our oilseed producers and other commodities producers can use whichever rail company they want, to get their products to port?”
Mr. Speaker, I can tell members that there is some stuff in this legislation that we can support. I represent a large farming area in Manitoba, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, and I have an agriculture background. I can tell members that the grain and oilseed producers in my riding have always had a lot of concerns about how sometimes their products do not get moved quickly; sometimes there are disruptions in rail and at the ports. We lose the confidence that we need as a nation, as a reliable supplier of our agri-food products. There are three main parts in this bill. There is one section in here under the transportation side that talks about interswitching. Why has the current government not put permanently in place the interswitching of rail so that our grain farmers, our oilseed producers and other commodities producers can use whichever rail company they want, to get their products to port?