Mr. Speaker, grain terminal workers at the Port of Vancouver have been locked out for eight weeks. The situation is becoming desperate for the transportation of this year's crop, which already has been doomed by summer drought.
Agreeing that the grain handling system is inefficient, many farmers feel the situation could be improved if transportation of grain becomes the responsibility of the buyer. This would remove some of the risk farmers face when moving their product by channels plagued by problems such as the grain workers lockout in Vancouver.
There are no winners and a lot of potential losers in this current dispute. Grain handlers were locked out on August 25. The government has done nothing to solve this two year dispute. No one benefits from strikes and lockouts when final offer selection arbitration is an option. I urge the government to intervene in this grain handlers dispute by compelling the parties to seek immediate third party arbitration.