Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to Bill C-14. I hope I remember to call it Bill C-14. This bill had another title in the last session, Bill C-101. It is one of the bills the government brought back at its original stage. I talked about flip-flops earlier. The reinstatement of bills is another Liberal flip-flop. They said it was an abhorrent practice while in opposition yet they have followed that same practice themselves.
It is rather amazing we are already at the third reading debate of Bill C-14 on this Tuesday morning. I left on Thursday and was back in my riding over the weekend to attend to commitments. There were no sign that Bill C-14 would come up for debate. However, the government suddenly decided to slip it on to the Order Paper on Thursday and the House was doing report stage on Friday and Monday. One has to wonder about the motivation of the Liberal government in bringing this bill in around a weekend and trying to move it quickly through the House. I believe there is a little bit of mischief involved in the scheduling of Bill C-14.
What I will be talking about is primarily the rail transportation component of Bill C-14, although the bill is broader. I would like to bring to the attention of the House, and particularly to the attention of Liberal members, the market difference between rail transportation and other modes of transportation.
The best illustration that I can offer is the difference between rail and air transportation. When I want to fly home to Saskatchewan I go to the airport where I have access to more than one airline. I can decide what time I want to fly and which airline to use, based on the schedules and services they provide. Madam Speaker, when you want to fly back to New Brunswick you have some of the same opportunities. I suggest that when the Minister of Transport flies back to his riding in Victoria he also has a choice of airlines and times that he can fly. The same is true of the minister of agriculture when he flies back to Regina.
My constituents and thousands of prairie producers in the grain growing region of Canada are dependent on transportation for their very livelihood. However, they do not have the same options and opportunities as the Minister of Transport, the minister of agriculture or even you and I have, Madam Speaker, as to how we are going to get from here back to our ridings.
Prairie producers have to ship their commodity, primarily grain, through rail as it is the only commercially feasible means of transportation that they have. They are captive to two railways and at most times one railway. They have no opportunity to take their commodity down to the station to decide on which rail line they want to ship their products. That puts them in a category which is classified as being captive shippers.
It creates real problems for the industry if there is not legislation in place that ensures balance and fairness when disputes arise between the shipper and the transporter of these goods.
A couple of clauses in Bill C-14 are particularly obnoxious to shippers, primarily in the prairies but also right across the country. The most odious of these clauses in the bill are subclauses 27(2) and 27(3). The other clause that has caused a great deal of consternation is clause 112.
If it was just myself who was standing here and complaining about these clauses, perhaps members might question whether or not the concern was a significant factor. However, group after group appeared before the transport committee and talked about the inadequacies of Bill C-14 and particularly the clauses that I mentioned.
A number of shippers appeared before the committee. I have a partial list of those shippers which is a who's who of the shipping industry and farm organizations across the country. I am going to list a group of organizations which has stated their public concern or opposition to subclauses 27(2) and 27(3).
They include the Alberta Wheat Pool, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, the Manitoba Pool Elevators, the United Grain Growers, the Canadian Wheat Board, the Pioneer Grain Company, Cargill, the Western Canadian Shippers Coalition, the Canadian Dehydrators Association, the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, the Western Grain Elevator Association, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, the National
Farmers Union, Southern Rails Co-operative, the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, the Atlantic Provinces Transportation Committee, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the Chamber of Maritime Commerce, Wabush Mines, Great Western Rural Development Corporation, Novacor Chemicals Limited, Luscar Ltd., Stelco. The list is longer but this is a who's who of shippers in Canada that have expressed opposition to subclauses 27(2) and 27(3) of Bill C-14.
The shippers hoped they would have an opportunity to see the bill amended. They wanted to see clause 27 deleted from the bill. They asked the government to do that. The former Minister of Transport and the Liberal members on the committee refused, in spite of an overwhelming cry from people against this clause in the bill.
There was a cabinet shuffle and a new session of Parliament started after the Christmas holidays and the new year break. Hope was rekindled in the hearts of many farmers in western Canada and many shippers across the country that perhaps with this change of leadership in the Department of Transport, new members on the transport committee and time for the government to digest all of the opposition to Bill C-101, which became Bill C-14, that it might change its attitude and become more concerned about some very real problems that occurred with the bill.
Many people had an opportunity to contact the new minister and ask him, a western Canadian minister, to reconsider Bill C-14. As the member for Kindersley-Lloydminister on behalf of my constituents I wrote a letter to the minister on February 8. Unfortunately the minister has not even seen fit to answer my letter. I have not received a response even though it was written a month and a half ago. There seems to be no concern on the part of Liberal ministers to whether they answer their mail.
In my letter I stated: "A number of farmers in the livestock industry in British Columbia have expressed some concern over legislation initiated by the previous Minister of Transport. Under Bill C-101", and that is the number of the old bill, "grain destined for export would be under a freight rate cap, whereas freight rates for grain intended for domestic use in British Columbia would not be capped. It has been suggested that rail rates to the lower mainland of British Columbia for grain would be approximately $10 a tonne higher than grain destined for the export market. The livestock industry feels that the $10 a tonne price difference will have a detrimental impact on farmers facing increased costs.
"As well, there is some concern by prairie producers that a two-tiered freight rate may instigate allegations from outside our borders that the lower rate is a subsidy unacceptable under GATT. A further concern expressed in no uncertain terms by shippers and producers of goods shipped by rail was a strong opposition to clause 27(2) of Bill C-101. It was argued that this clause provided the railway with an unfair advantage when challenged by shippers over unfair, insufficient or overpriced service. This factor is extremely important to shippers of prairie grain who are captive to the railroads.
"With that said, the Prime Minister's decision to prorogue Parliament has resulted in Bill C-101 dying on the Order Paper. If you intend to reintroduce similar legislation in the new session of Parliament, I would call on you to make the necessary changes to alleviate the discrepancy in freight rates and remove clause 27(2) from the bill".
I felt that this would be just one more letter that would perhaps tip the scales in favour of the shippers to provide more neutral legislation, better legislation for the Canadian economy but the minister did not even have the good sense to answer my letter.
Mine was not the only letter. Other letters went out from shippers asking the minister to take this opportunity to reconsider the bill. In fact, the minister said: "Come and talk to me. I am open to changing the bill. There is a good chance that we will change some of the more reprehensible clauses in the bill".
A number of shippers came to Ottawa and met with the new Minister of Transport. They were very disappointed in the results of that meeting. I have a copy of a letter written to the minister by Mr. Alex Graham, president of the Alberta Wheat Pool. He is also the chairman of Prince Rupert Grain and Pacific Terminals:
The competitive access provisions provided in the legislation include the right of shippers to obtain a ruling from the Canadian Transportation Agency on rates or service, where the shipper has access to only one railway. As we said during our meeting, subsections 27(2) and (3) inject subjective language into the agency's decision-making process.
Our legal counsel advises us that any time subjective language is placed in legislation, it results in legal challenges to define the language. We have been told that the legislative requirement for the agency to be satisfied that the shipper will suffer "substantial commercial harm" could result in as many legal actions as there are negotiations with the railways.
Mr. Minister, during our meeting, and for the first time since this debate began, we were optimistic that our message was actually being received by the government. We were encouraged by your stated commitment to investigate fully our claims that these sections will result in increased litigation around applications to the Canadian Transportation Agency, and to take action if you found the claims to be valid.
However, as report stage debate began in the House of Commons this morning, without any indication of additional amendments to address our concerns, it appears that there was really no intention to address them in the first place.
As we said in our meeting, subsections 27(2) and (3) fly totally in the face of the intent of Bill C-14, which was to create a more commercial transportation environment, and to facilitate direct commercial negotiations on rates and services between shippers and carriers, without government or legal intervention.
The government's approach to developing this legislation also flies in the face of its promise to enhance the ability of Canadian industry to compete on world markets. As has been pointed out on many occasions, all of the major shippers in Canada called for the removal of subsections 27(2) and (3), citing the disastrous effects these subsections will have on their ability to negotiate with carriers, and to remain competitive. They were supported by four provincial governments, and by a number of industry and municipal associations. We are perplexed and disturbed that the government chose not to respond positively to this overwhelming consensus.
As long as this bill is before the House of Commons, Mr. Minister, you have the opportunity to make it right. In the interests of Canada's shippers, and the Canadian economy, we urge you to do so by removing subsections 27(2) and (3) or at least refer it back to the Standing Committee on Transport for specific and narrow examination before we all suffer the consequences.
That is a strongly worded letter from a respected person in the grains industry, someone whose constituency's livelihood depends on its ability to ship products at a fair price from the prairie region to port.
I also have a news release issued by United Grain Growers. It strongly condemns the government for the way it handled Bill C-14 with its heavy handed approach to saying it is interested in making some changes to the bill to make it more balanced as it relates to both shippers and the railroads, and then throwing dirt in its face, more or less, by slamming the door and saying it will not submit this bill to any changes whatsoever.
The government is ramming it through at report stage without considering any of the good amendments put forward, several by my colleague, the member for Kootenay West-Revelstoke, and by other members, which would have made the bill far more acceptable to the shippers.
To help us realize how important this is, the rail transportation sector, particularly in the prairies, used to be governed by the Western Grain Transportation Act, the WGTA. This legislation was considered to be shipper friendly. That is one reason the government brought in legislation that tipped the balance to being railway friendly, Bill C-14.
Under the Western Grain Transportation Act railways made their profits, guess where, shipping western grain. Here we had a piece of legislation that was shipper friendly and yet it was the shipping of prairie grain that was regulated under the act which provided the railways, CP and CN, with some of their largest profits.
It boggles my mind to think how we could tip the scales in favour of the railways and introduce and pass railway friendly legislation to allow the railways not only to make more money but to hold a hammer over the industry in such an unfair manner. For the Liberal government to be so unconcerned about that is beyond belief.
The people who presented the briefs to the transport committee, the many delegations that came as witnesses, must be shaking their heads. I read the list of the organizations that made submissions to the transport committee and said they had very grave concerns with this bill.
They must wonder why they bothered coming to Ottawa. There was clear consensus that there needed to be changes to this bill. This is one of the most clear indications of concern in a bill that I have seen since I have been here after first being elected to the House in 1993.
I have never seen such a strong, united effort on the part of the grains industry. One criticism of the industry is that it never gets its act together. One group will tell Ottawa it must do this, and the next group will say no, it has to go in the other direction. This did not happen in this case.
The groups that appeared for the transport committee were almost united in the their condemnation of clause 27(2) and clause 112. Yet the government chose to ignore them. It did not seem to care. Perhaps adding 5 cents more in value to CN shares it was selling was more important than the entire western grains industry; not only western grain but potash, iron ore and coal.
We have talked a lot about Atlantic Canada. Some Liberals from Atlantic Canada who just toed the party line as they had been told have asked why we suddenly have an interest in Atlantic Canada. One group that appeared before the committee was Wabash Mines from Labrador. It told us the bill was flawed and needed to be changed. It was not only western Canadians who were concerned; the concern came from across the country.
Did the members who serve that part of the country speak on behalf of the livelihood of their constituents, the job creators in their constituencies? No, they were silent. They let the flawed legislation progress and did not even speak against it. This is truly unfortunate.
Now we are at third reading. This is our final chance to debate Bill C-14. It cannot be amended in any substantive way. We can no longer delete clauses. We have gone past that stage. It is very sad to realize that so many people were opposed to a piece of legislation and the government would not budge. In the past significant concessions have usually been made when there was general opposition to a bill not only from members across the floor but from the public at large. However, in this case the government chose to have deaf ears and not hear what Canadians were saying.
This is extremely unfortunate. It means the bill will have to be changed in the future and it will be a lengthy process. I assure the House that there are members on this side listening to Canadians. We are taking notes and there will be a day of reckoning for the
arrogance of the Liberals and their inability to hear the concerns of Canadians.
I am thankful that through the democratic election process we will have a chance in the future to redress these wrongs.