Thank you for having me here today.
My name is Wade Sobkowich. I'm the executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents Canada's six major grain-handling companies. Collectively, we handle 95% of western Canada's bulk grain exports.
Our comments will focus on labour and marine port governance issues in Bill C-39.
Grain exporters are captive to essential rail and port services. When they are disrupted, we have no viable alternatives. A work stoppage in a single bargaining unit can have the unique ability to bring grain export supply chains to a halt. Modernizing Canadian labour law would ensure that this does not occur. Bill C-39 is a step in the right direction.
We agree that the best agreements are found at the bargaining table, and we're encouraged by the fact that most happen there. The importance of this legislation is how it could deal with the extraordinary cases that could bring the national economy to its knees. Currently, when the process breaks down, the Canada Labour Code does not have effective tools.
The on-again, off-again nature of collective bargaining with the threat of a set strike or lockout means that shippers constantly face uncertain service in the months leading up to a possible disruption. This results in major costs, including lost sales, penalties due to slowdowns and demurrage or freight book costs. The early appointment of a special mediator to manage a bargaining process would be a major step forward. Moreover, the publication of the special mediator's report would be a powerful tool to show the minister and Canadians whether the parties were bargaining in good faith.
From our perspective, there should be fewer politics involved in the appointment of a special mediator. We recommend that the bill be amended so that negotiations that have reached day 75 of conciliation are automatically appointed a special mediator. When a strike or lockout does occur, getting transportation services back to work as quickly as possible is critical for grain shippers that have no other options.
Under Bill C-39, the minister could use section 107 only once a work stoppage is under way, but by then, the damage is done. Millions of dollars are lost before a single train or vessel stops. A legal framework that acts only after a shutdown would require Canadians to give that loss away. In exceptional circumstances, ordering the parties to remain at the bargaining table is entirely reasonable, and we strongly believe Bill C-39 needs to be amended to allow the minister to act in the national interest before a work stoppage begins.
I'd like to spend my remaining minutes on the questionable elements of Bill C-39 regarding the financial powers of marine port authorities.
Port authorities play three roles. They are landlord, regulator and developer. Inevitably, conflicts of interest arise, and we've seen ports acting as legislator, tax assessor and even competitor all at the same time. Bill C-39 would give an almost unfettered power to ports to charge all manner of fees, tariffs and rents, with limited direct oversight of the minister or Parliament.
We think this committee should be asking some very hard questions before agreeing to these provisions. For example, is it the government's intent to fund national infrastructure projects at the local port level? Is it the government's intent to allow port authorities to charge tariffs on goods? Should port tenants pay for infrastructure outside of a port? Should port authorities be able to increase rents and fees with no reasonable explanation or right of appeal? If not, what checks and balances are provided in Bill C-39 to stop such behaviour?
While Bill C-39 would introduce the ability to complain to the transportation agency regarding fees, it would have no meaningful measure of appeal on the fairness and reasonableness of port rent. Rent is by far the largest revenue generator for port authorities, and it's a major oversight not to include it as an appeal mechanism. We ask the committee to amend Bill C-39 to provide real recourse on all port charges, and to clear guardrails and oversight of them.
In conclusion, the Canadian grain sector is a major economic driver, contributing over $40 billion to Canada's annual GDP. As Canada works to diversify markets and attract investments, assigning additional costs to exports would place us at a global disadvantage competitively. Every avoidable disruption and unchecked cost impedes the ability of exporters in the grain sector to maximize the return of foreign dollars to the Canadian economy.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.