Bill C-52 (Historical)

Fair Rail Freight Service Act

An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (administration, air and railway transportation and arbitration)

This enactment amends the Canada Transportation Act to require a railway company, on a shipper’s request, to make the shipper an offer to enter into a contract respecting the manner in which the railway company must fulfil its service obligations to the shipper. It also creates an arbitration process to establish the terms of such a contract if the shipper and the railway company are unable to agree on them. The enactment also amends provisions related to air transportation to streamline internal processes and certain administrative provisions of that Act.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. Time is limited, even though we have 10 minutes.

The hon. member for Trinity—Spadina.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, because the entire supply and demand are so unbalanced, and because we are basically dealing with a monopoly, raising the situation where the government is very reluctant to act, many agencies, such as the auditor, who talked about the importance of tracking and following through on recommendations on dangerous goods that have been spilled, have not had their recommendations implemented. The Transportation Safety Board recommended ways to make sure things are done in a safe way. Yet there is a long list of recommendations of the board that are being ignored. The government has talked about the situation, but actually making things happen, such as having a standard voice recording in the cab so that we can find out what caused the accident, have not been accomplished yet, which is really unfortunate.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that rail freight customers and users have been very unhappy. In fact, we know a large number of them have been very unhappy with the shipping of their goods across the country for some time. We know that over three-quarters of rail freight users are quite concerned. The hon. member has highlighted some of those concerns and has put forward some solutions.

Could the member elaborate on what some of those solutions would be in the context of a national transportation strategy, which I know she has called for, and how the bill could move toward a national transportation strategy?

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

I will try to answer that question, Mr. Speaker, in the few minutes I have.

My private member's bill would accomplish all of the things rail customers want. My bill would cover all customers, whether they have existing contracts or not. My bill would provide a model agreement so that it would be much faster and easier for the customers and the company to come to a consensus and sign an agreement. My bill proposes that there be financial consequences for bad service delivery so that the customers are compensated if their grains do not show up on time or they end up rotting at port. Customers would not have to book several containers in case the train shows up late or early.

My bill proposes to deal with price gouging and the monopoly of power the rail company has. Unless we deal with that, the situation will still be one-sided. We have to find some balance between the customers and the companies. If not, the customers will continue to be gouged, and the services will continue to be unreliable. I hope my Conservative colleagues across the way will work closely with me and be non-partisan about it.

Let us fix Bill C-52 so that it works for all customers and shippers. Let us make sure that there are substantial consequences if the services are not reliable.

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member and I have a question for her.

I get the impression that railroads have been used less and less for many years now, and companies have a tendency to close unprofitable routes, such as the route between Gaspé and Chandler. The train goes to Chandler but no longer goes all the way to Gaspé.

I would like the member to tell me whether that same trend is being seen across the country.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yes, in fact, what is happening is that our national dream is slowly drifting away as CN and CP are abandoning rail lines because they are not always profitable in this vast country of ours. Even though CN made $2.7 billion last year, it is unwilling to service some of the areas that are not turning a substantial profit. Thousands of tracks are being given up, whether they are for passenger rail or freight services. More trucks are on the road. VIA Rail is losing customers. It just had its budget cut by $20 million.

We need to re-examine our entire rail service so that we can come back to the Canadian dream of a rail line connecting all of us from coast to coast to coast.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today in support of Bill C-52, with the understanding that it is not exactly the bill that was needed. However, I have absolute faith that our critic, the member for Trinity—Spadina, will be in there valiantly fighting for the amendments to improve this legislation, which does not go far enough.

I also want to acknowledge and thank the member for the amazing work she has been doing on her transportation portfolio. I know in my riding of Newton—North Delta, one of the most critical issues for the residents there is to have a national transportation strategy to help provide a framework so that we can have good, comprehensive public transit that will help us get rid of the gridlock, for the movement of goods and for people. When people do not have to sit for hours and hours in traffic gridlock, their mental health improves and they are much more productive at work.

Today we are here to talk specifically about the amendments to rail freight provisions. We are talking about rail freight customers. We live in a huge country, which is geographically challenged, or I might say, advantaged. We have a diverse climate. When I left Vancouver last night at 11:20, it was still 6°C. Then when I arrived here to our beautiful, balmy weather in Ottawa, it was minus whatever.

Moving goods for mining companies, farmers and even for people who want to ship cars across the country, we realize that shippers have a huge geography to contend with. It was with that in mind that our forefathers had the foresight to build a national railroad. It is unfortunate that we have not been good caretakers of the national gift that was given to us. We have seen it face quite a few challenges. On the passenger side of rail, my colleagues who have rail service in their areas tell us how wonderful it is, but out where I live in B.C. we have had much of our passenger rail cut and the rest is not running that regularly.

When we talk about freight in Canada we are not talking about moving goods 100 miles or 300 miles, we are talking about moving goods thousands of miles across the country, going through mountainous terrain, our prairies, from coast to coast to coast. As well, there is the incredible challenge of our climate, yet we have to keep our freight moving throughout the year.

I am an absolute fan of trains, be they freight trains or passenger trains. Having grown up in England I had access to some of the best train service way back before the British privatized their train service. Britain is now looking to see how it can buy back the rail services and move toward nationalizing that national treasure once again.

I want us to look at some of the key facts surrounding this issue in Canada. We usually talk about quality service. However, here is a fact: 80% of rail freight customers are unhappy with their services. When I think that 80% are unhappy, that means that only 20% are happy. If I were teaching in my classroom today and I was grading a paper that was only 20% okay, it would not receive a very high mark or even a passing mark. As a matter of fact, it would be an abysmally failing mark, and I feel that is exactly what we are doing. We are failing our mining industry, our farmers and other shippers in industries that transport goods using the freight service.

Our services are so unreliable. They cost the Canadian economy hundreds of millions of dollars every year. If there were no other argument, surely my colleagues across the way could accept the fact that when it costs our economy hundreds of millions of dollars a year, it is an issue they need to address immediately. It is not something we should tinker with part of and then just leave alone for a long time.

By the way, I do not give much credit to my colleagues who are sitting in opposition either, the Liberal Party, because it was under them, under their stewardship, that the CN was privatized in 1995. They privatized the track. There is another way, which other countries are looking at where they keep the track and privatize the actual rail service. However, it was that kind of privatization, without checks and balances, without guarantees, without getting contracts in writing into the future, that is jeopardizing the transportation of goods. I want my colleagues to remember that.

We always have to look at our history. History is a great teacher. Basically what we are looking at here today is that if 80% of the people are unhappy and the unreliable freight service is costing us hundreds of millions of dollars each year, just think what it is costing the companies that invest. Think of the rotting crops for farmers who cannot get the service they need when they need it to move their goods from, let us say, the Prairies out to the west coast to be shipped away, or to the east coast. The transportation is stopped. Imagine the idled plants, even on our coastline, that are waiting for the railways to arrive, but they are running late and so they have backlogs. Imagine the mines that miss their shipments. These are the day-to-day realities that these industries have shared with us.

This is a missed opportunity by my good colleagues across the way to come forward with a comprehensive piece of legislation. This particular misstep will continue to hurt Canada's exporters, damaging our global competitiveness and costing us decent jobs. The bill takes a baby step in the right direction, but when we are dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars and peoples' livelihoods, baby steps are not always what needs to be taken. This is a missed opportunity for the Conservatives to address the bill in a comprehensive way.

What we find when we read the bill is that the protective measures do not even cover existing contracts between shippers and rail companies. As well, the legislation will only offer a narrow, costly arbitration process for failed negotiations for new contracts. Key demands, such as the shippers' call to include penalties for rail companies and service agreements, performance standards and an easily accessible conflict resolution process were basically ignored in this piece of legislation.

By the way, these are not the key demands of the opposition. These are not key demands that we have dreamed up. Our critic has done an amazing job consulting with the industries that feel the most impact.

Once again I would say the government is pandering to its corporate friends instead of the industries it needs to be supporting so that Canada can grow its export business and thus address its own economic strength.

Our rail transportation system, despite all its problems, is the backbone of Canada's economy, with 70% of all surface goods shipped by rail. As a matter of fact, if anyone has ever travelled through the Rockies by rail, there is a point where one can stand and see the beginning and the end of a train, because of the geography and the way the rail track was built. If anyone ever gets the opportunity, they should go see that. It is truly amazing. Watching that for what seems like forever, it really strikes home just how much Canadians rely on rail to transport our goods.

Pricing for rail freight services is also damaging Canada's shippers. Bill C-52 explicitly excludes pricing, despite the fact that many in the shipping community were calling for this very thing. One has to think, what is the driver for the Conservative government? It certainly is not listening to the people who need to move crops, who grow crops or mine minerals, or the people who are using the freight service. The government is not even listening to the shippers.

Canada's trade deficit is ballooning. I know the Conservatives like to live under the delusion that they are fine economic managers. However, when we look at the real world outside, it is a very different story. I would like to invite some of them to visit my riding and see that reality for themselves.

Canada's trade deficit is ballooning, reaching almost $2 billion in November. I am not talking about hundreds of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars. I am talking about $2 billion, a number I do not think many of us could even write down or imagine how many zeroes come after the number two. We would have to go back to our high school days to remember that. We cannot afford to lose even more ground by taking little baby steps. This is the time when the government could have been bold, addressed all the issues and moved us forward in the right direction. We have to be competitive in the global market. Canada's products can only be competitive when we see an improvement in that figure of the 80% of people who are unhappy with the freight service.

Rail freight service is not only central to Canada's economy, we also need a strong freight service to take trucks off the roads and tackle greenhouse gas emissions. I am not going to try to persuade my colleagues across the way about the need for environmental protection. Whether it has been in the omnibus budget bill or other actions around the Kyoto protocol, the government has shown it has absolutely no commitment to regulations that protect our environment. As a matter of fact, it has shown it is not willing to make any movement toward making improvements to protect our environment.

At the same time, I feel it is my moral responsibility to point out to government members that, if it were improved and more people were happy with it and it were running on time, et cetera, at least our railroad service would take many trucks off the road. More people would use the freight service because they were happier with it, and thus it would be good for the environment.

I know that deep down, somewhere, even if not when they are sitting here in the hallowed House but when they are back at home with their children and grandchildren, Conservatives must think about planet earth and what we must do to protect it, if not for ourselves then for our children and grandchildren.

It would have made environmental sense to have addressed some of these issues in a more comprehensive manner. Rail freight is only one aspect where the Conservatives are slow to act. I could give many other examples, but I do not think there is enough time in the day.

From new rail safety measures, which we have been calling for, to cuts at VIA Rail and blocking the introduction of high-speed rail in Canada, Conservatives do not give Canada's rail network the attention it deserves. It is absolutely so. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting on a train and travelling to work and home. I have done this at another stage in my life, and I can say it is far superior to travelling by car to work and back and sitting behind the wheel getting all tensed up.

We are not the only ones who are saying that this bill does not go far enough. There are others who agree with us. As I said previously, the official opposition's critic, the member for Trinity—Spadina, has done an amazing amount of legwork on this. Actually, she has met with many of the movers and shakers in this area. She, herself, has formulated policies and amendments that she is bringing forward based on what she heard, not on some ideological shift way out there or a need to look as if she is doing something, but based on listening to the customers and those who move their freight.

Key stakeholders in agriculture, mining and the forestry industry associations have been calling for rail freight legislation for years; for example, and I am only going to name a few, Pulse Canada, Grain Growers of Canada, Forest Products Association of Canada and the Mining Association of Canada. They want, and we want, to have strong legislation to protect rail customers. However, once again the government has given in to inaction or a tiny baby step of action, which creates a great deal of dissatisfaction.

Let me just sum up a few things. Rail transportation is the backbone of our economy. More than 70% of the surface goods in Canada are shipped by rail. I would say that we need to make sure even more are shipped by rail, to get the trucks off our roads. Eighty per cent of service commitments for agricultural rail customers are not met by the rail companies due to delays, an insufficient number of rail cars, etcetera. That is quite a shocking figure. Agriculture cannot live up to its commitments 80% of the time because of the fault of the railway services. That is quite an eye-opener in itself.

The rail freight service review found that 80% of shippers are not satisfied, as I said earlier, but within that whole group, we have agriculture, a key backbone of our country. How can we live with a service where 80% of agriculture commitments are reneged on, not due to any fault of their own but due to the railway service?

We stand with the farmers, and we know how little respect my colleagues across the way have had for the farmers, and we stand with the mining and forestry communities to end unacceptable treatment and unreliable freight services from the big rail companies. We need a stronger bill and we will do everything we can. I have absolute faith in our critic. We will do that through amendments to protect rail customers, and we will work with the shippers to get them the fair and reliable freight services they deserve.

Unreliable rail freight services cost hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages. Canadian jobs are on the line. Surely the time to act is now and not to keep waiting. Waiting for Godot will not solve this problem.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have to admit that I find it stunning that there is much to-do about these improvements to the transportation system and that the government, through the bill, is going to introduce an arbitration system between rail companies and those who wish to ship their goods. When we actually look at the provisions, they are limited to new contracts. I do not want to put my hon. colleague on the spot; she may not be able to answer a specific question, but it raises the issue of goods that are shipped—mining, equipment, wheat. Surely in most cases there are long-term contracts that have been negotiated. I find the limited nature of this arbitration process rather stunning. Equally stunning is that it is not going to include shipping across the border into the United States and that there are not going to be any penalty provisions.

I wonder if the member could elaborate and speak about the limitations of these improvements that are being made to the rights of those who wish to ship goods by rail.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, that is what really struck me today. By the way, I have had experience in arbitration both from the employer side and from the employee side. When I look at this legislation, I keep thinking there is so little here for the shippers themselves. The whole bill is still tilted in favour of the railroads. Going into a system, even when it is called arbitration, if through legislation it is tilted in favour of one party, then it cannot be called fair arbitration.

Also, to rule out the contracts that have already been signed, some for a number of years I would gather, would create multiple playing fields that would make it even harder and give the railroad corporations far more power centralized in their hands and leave the shippers very vulnerable.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the shippers have been waiting virtually since 2007 when it was suggested in a clear fashion that there was a disadvantage. They looked to Ottawa to provide a remedy, and today we have the legislation before us. Based on the previous question in terms of arbitration and the fact that we know there has to be a mechanism within the legislation, would the member provide what she believes that mechanism should be? Is it a final arbitration? How does she see an arbitration for a dispute between the shipper and the rail company? Does she have a solution for that, or does she see that solution coming out of committee? If so, when would she like to see the bill go to committee?

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, all the questions point out that the bill needs major fixing. One of the fixes is to create a more level playing field between the railroad companies and the shippers. Arbitration only works if there is a level playing field going in. If through legislation, things are tilted so much in favour of the railroads, then the shippers are going to have a disadvantage. I think all those things will get hashed out. I do not know what kind of an arbitration system this is. The ones I have known are that the arbitrator listens and, following the guidelines that are given, the final decision is made. There is no halfway measure when it comes to arbitration.

This also points out that there is a thundering silence from my colleagues across the way, either in speaking during any of the slots or even getting up to ask questions. It makes me wonder what they are trying to hide.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I heard some of the discussion about how farmers and farm groups were not consulted in this, and I cannot let this go by. Maybe I was baited into this by the member's last comment.

This legislation is supported by Pulse Canada, the Grain Growers of Canada, the Forest Products Association of Canada, the Western Barley Growers Association, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, the Western Grain Elevator Association, the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, Canadian Canola Growers Association and the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. These are groups that understand the situation, and yet we hear comments that there was no consultation.

I am at the stage where I wonder what good news the NDP would ever support. Why can those members not support a bill of this magnitude, for which farmers and farm groups have been asking for so long?

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let me make it very clear. I do not think I stood here and said I am opposed to this piece of legislation, nor has anybody else. We have actually said we support the bill going to committee where we will bring in some significant amendments to improve and add what we feel is significantly missing from this piece of legislation. We are going to be doing exactly that, based on what we have heard and on what those who ship goods are saying to us.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Green Party is in exactly the same position. We support the bill, but it is a very limited bill. It would provide the shippers of goods by freight access to an arbitration. That is what it does. It could do so much more.

I would like to ask my friend from Newton—North Delta if she does not agree. The committee might not be able to get at it because it exceeds the scope of the bill. However, this legislation could be used to leverage and push for more of a national transportation strategy that would take into account the need to move goods and people efficiently by rail.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, whenever I think about railways I think of passengers. I also think of freight service, because I have watched freight trains as well. I know how significant rail freight is. I absolutely agree that, instead of dealing with things piecemeal, we need a national transportation strategy that would look at both the transportation of goods and the transportation of people. It is long overdue.

I urge my colleagues across the way to seriously consider supporting my colleague's move to bring forward legislation that would give us a national transportation strategy to take care of the movement of both humans and goods.