Bill C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by Ben Lobb, the Conservative MP for the southern Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, passed third reading for adoption in the House of Commons on Wednesday by a vote of 176-146.

The bill, introduced in February last year, amends the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to extend the carbon price exemption for farmers’ eligible fuel purchases to also include purchases of marketable natural gas and propane.

The bill also expands the allowed uses of exempted fuels, to include grain drying systems as well as heating or cooling of farm structures directly involved in livestock or crop production, such as barns or greenhouses.

C-234 also includes a sunset clause which will see the exemption brought back in eight years for review, allowing whatever government is in place at that time to let it lapse — or to amend or extend it, if new technologies available at that time don’t yet warrant ending the exemption.

Private members’ bills — legislative and policy proposals brought forward by individual MPs rather than the governing party — rarely pass in the Commons but are more likely to gain traction in a minority government. A previous version of C-234, Bill C-206, died on the order paper before the 2021 federal election.

C-234 also drew support from several farmer and commodity groups, including 15 national organizations speaking under the banner of the Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA), a policy group set up in 2021 “to ensure that Canadian farmers’ sustainable practices are recognized.”

The ACA, on Twitter Wednesday, called the bill’s passage in the Commons “a huge step towards realizing the full potential of #CdnAg.”

Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture — an ACA member group — thanked Lobb and supporting MPs on Wednesday on Twitter, adding “Now let’s get it through the (Senate).”

Canadian Canola Growers Association vice-president and ACA chair Dave Carey on Wednesday also credited Lobb’s fellow Conservative MP John Barlow, Liberal MP and Commons standing ag committee chair Kody Blois, NDP ag critic Alistair MacGregor and Bloc Quebecois ag critic Yves Perron for “outstanding leadership” on the file.

In a separate release Tuesday, Andre Harpe, chair of ACA member Grain Growers of Canada, said that “by extending the exemption for qualifying farming fuels to natural gas and propane, this amendment will unlock innovation and drive sustainable growth in the sector.”

“Farmers incur a carbon price when using natural gas and propane for necessary farming practices such as grain drying, land irrigation, and heating or cooling their barns,” GGC said in Tuesday’s release. “As there are no viable alternatives, pricing these activities does not provide a signal to lower emissions from these sources.”

C-234, GGC said, “will allow farmers to invest in practices that drive innovation and new efficiencies that reduce fuel usage by putting money back in their hands.”

MORE READING: Finding ways to maximize grain drying efficiency

The eight-year sunset clause was added at the standing ag committee last November. That clause, Barlow said at the time, is a reflection of Canadian farmers’ confidence that new and sustainable technologies will come forward to replace the gas- and propane-fired options they now use to dry grain and heat barns.

Separately on Wednesday, the federal government announced $22.2 million has been allocated to another 45 projects under its Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program – Adoption Stream, related to “adopting more efficient grain drying technology.”

That brings the adoption stream’s allocations so far to over $37.1 million across 99 grain dryer projects across Canada, the government said in a release.

The adoption stream of the $495.7 million ACT is budgeted for $60 million in all, including $50 million for purchase and installation of more efficient grain dryers and $10 million for “fuel switching initiatives.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire saw his private member’s bill, aimed at lowering taxes on the sales of farms and other small businesses, pass in the House of Commons and go to the Senate after receiving bipartisan support.

The 199 votes for Bill C-208 came largely from the Manitoba MP’s fellow Conservatives, while the 128 opposing votes came from the governing Liberals including Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Those in favour of C-208 say it improves the tax treatment of sales of farms to adult children or grandchildren, by excluding them from current anti-avoidance rules on business transfers.

“Parents will no longer have to be given a false choice of having to choose between a larger retirement package by selling to a stranger, or a massive tax bill because they sold to a family member — their own child or grandchild,” said Maguire, whose bill received support from Keystone Agricultural Producers, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and others.

In the Senate, Maguire’s bill arrived for first reading on May 25 and, after a side trip to the Senate standing committee on agriculture and forestry, passed third reading without amendment on Tuesday.

“If we want to ensure the next generation of family farms is in strong financial health to capitalize on the immense opportunities facing our sector and drive Canada’s economic recovery, we cannot burden them with undue tax liabilities from day one,” CFA president Mary Robinson said Wednesday in a release hailing the bill’s passage through the Senate.

“This is tremendously positive news for farm families, who will now will not have to face an additional tax bill, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

C-208 would come into force when it receives royal assent, which as of Friday hadn’t yet been given.

Concessions

A private member’s bill introduced by Louis Plamondon of the Bloc Quebecois to prohibit any further market access concessions on supply-managed commodities in future international trade negotiations was not voted on.

Bill C-216 received second reading in the Commons in March and, after allegations of political delays, was studied by the international trade committee, which on Tuesday reported it back to the Commons without amendment.

But the dream of shielding supply-managed industries from trade negotiations might end with the current session.

That would be welcome news to opponents of the law, which include the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance. CAFTA’s president Dan Darling had previously told parliamentarians that legislating the exclusion of products from trade talks would irritate trading relationships, and tie negotiators’ hands.

“Put simply, this would be detrimental to our ability to generate growth and support about a million jobs across Canada,” he said in a 2020 letter on the subject.

Proponents of C-216, including representatives from supply-managed industries, said the law would allow continued predictability to ensure food security.

No entry

Foothills MP John Barlow’s bill to amend the Health of Animals Act also did not pass this parliamentary session. First introduced in 2020, the law aims to make it an offence to enter a place in which animals are kept if doing so could reasonably harm the animals.

While it passed second reading in March, the agriculture committee didn’t study it until the current session had almost ended and no vote on a third reading took place.

Another private member’s bill, C-206, which as proposed by Ontario MP Philip Lawrence would specifically exempt farmers’ use of natural gas and propane from federal greenhouse gas emission pricing, on Wednesday cleared third reading in the Commons and first reading in the Senate.

Jockeying for votes is expected to be a popular summertime exercise among MPs, as many political watchers are expecting an election as soon as September.

Easter departs

One long-time Liberal MP who won’t enter the fracas is Wayne Easter, who recently announced his retirement. A stalwart in Canadian agriculture for decades, Easter came off his family’s farm in Prince Edward Island to work with the National Farmers Union, where as president he rose to prominence championing the Crow Rate on grain handling.

Easter entered federal politics in 1993 as the MP for Malpeque, where he handled the agriculture portfolio as a parliamentary secretary (2004-05), opposition critic (2006-11) and member of the Commons’ standing committee on agriculture (2004-11).

Throughout his time in government, he was known as a fierce advocate — once arguing against his own Liberal government’s support of introducing rBGH, a bovine growth hormone that is still banned today.

“It has been my honour to work with and serve the residents of Malpeque, and it has been my honour to work with all members across political lines,” he said during his farewell speech to parliamentarians.

“It is the discussion, it is getting to know each other and it is the debate that, at the end of the day, makes for better policy and a better country.”

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Conservative MP Philip Lawrence’s private member’s bill C-206, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (qualifying farming fuel), passed second reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday, and was forwarded to committee for review.

The bill got to that point without support from the governing Liberals save for one member, southeastern Ontario MP Francis Drouin.

Introduced by Peterborough-area Conservative MP Philip Lawrence in February last year and reinstated in the current session, the bill got support from each of the opposition parties, with the Bloc Quebecois, Green Party and New Democrats joining the Conservatives in voting for the bill to move to committee.

Before the vote on C-206 was held, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a joint statement signalling their intentions.

C-206, they said, “does not provide relief for the fuel costs of grain drying, as it does not add grain drying as an eligible farming activity.”

Contention over the bill’s text was part of the debate MPs held in the House before voting on it, and Lawrence was firm in his assertion his bill would exempt fuels used for grain drying.

Western Manitoba MP Larry Maguire, who seconded Lawrence’s bill, said in a statement Thursday it would “provide a full exemption on all farm fuels, including natural gas and propane.”

Rather than pass a bill introduced by an opposition member, the Liberals are signalling intent to introduce their own bill offering relief to farmers drying grain.

“We are committed to new rebates for on-farm fuel use such as grain drying, in order to both support our food producers and also encourage new investments in sustainable technologies, that go beyond existing exemptions for farm fuels and rebates for greenhouses,” the ministers said in their statement.

“In addition, our government will make grain drying and barn heating a priority focus under the new $165 million agriculture clean technology fund. The program will invest in energy efficiency, fuel switching, and other new technologies on farms. This program will be announced in the coming months.”

No further details, or specific timelines, were offered.

Facing scrutiny for the grain drying costs farmers bore during a particularly wet harvest last year, Bibeau avoided making any commitments but defaulted to a favoured position: requesting more information on the matter.

While the Liberals deliberate their own plan to relieve farmers of grain drying costs, continued industry support for C-206 is clear.

The momentum of Lawrence’s bill, coupled with the Liberals’ new, albeit vague, commitment should ensure farmers will be getting some form of relief from grain drying – but when is still unclear.

C-206 getting to committee marks the halfway point in a six-stage process toward a bill becoming law, but like many private members’ bills, it faces a long road to possible passage.

If Parliament doesn’t prorogue first, the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food will hear testimony from stakeholders in and outside of government before reporting back findings and possible amendments to the House of Commons.

The bill would die on the floor and would have to be introduced for a third time if government rises and the current parliamentary session ends before its passage — a looming threat in any minority government situation. This scenario would essentially mean the bill goes back to its infancy, and the process of its passage would begin again.

Last year, federal officials told a committee of MPs that an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) internal analysis suggests costs of grain drying are “a fairly small share of overall costs.”

While the analysis has not been made available to the public, officials say grain drying costs typically represent only one to two per cent of total costs for producers.

Provinces and provincial producer groups have put forward numbers suggesting carbon taxes — including those on fuels used grain drying — account for a significantly higher amount of overall costs, but AAFC officials suggest those figures factored in indirect costs, resulting in a higher estimate.

An evaluation of grain drying costs provided by some provincial governments or producer groups was done in 2019 by AAFC. The results don’t represent AAFC’s estimates and instead represent a standard set of results from different groups to offer comparable results.

“Based on the information received, the average per-farm cost of pollution pricing associated with grain drying by province ranges from 0.05 per cent to 0.38 per cent of net operating costs for an average farm, equivalent to $210 to $774, depending on the province in question,” that report said.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Canada Grain Act

Canada’s Treasury Board has identified the Canada Grain Act as a piece of legislation in need of regulatory reform. This has been on the federal Liberal government’s agenda for some time, and was included in Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s mandate letter. There was also a commitment to review the Act in the 2019 federal budget last March.

During a committee meeting at the end of February, officials from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) said it’s difficult to say at this point what the reform will look like, or even if it will include legislative changes.

“We are in active discussions with stakeholders and with provinces and territories that have expressed an interest in the issue of what a reform of the Grain Act might look like,” said AAFC assistant deputy minister Tom Rosser.

While officials are moving forward on the review, they are not working under a definitive timeline for the process right now, he said.

Carbon taxes

An independent, Liberal-appointed senator has brought forward a bill that would exempt natural gas and propane on farms from the carbon tax. Diane Griffin’s Bill S-215 argues that farmers are unable to mitigate the costs of the carbon tax through direct action and measures they have to take, such as grain drying, should not be continue to be considered as “discretionary fuel use.”

It’s fairly rare for bills originating in the Senate to pass, and the Liberal minority government has thus far shown no appetite to offer such an exemption, but there is support outside parliamentary circles.

The bill is similar to one brought forward in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Philip Lawrence. Although that bill, C-206, may be debated, it likely won’t pass given the Conservatives’ position as official opposition.

Both are supported by a number of producer groups, including the Grain Growers of Canada.

“Given the clear desire for this legislative change in both chambers and across party lines, our hope is that the federal government would include broader exemptions for all fuels used in farming operations in the Budget Implementation Act – once tabled,” said chair Jeff Nielsen in a release. “This is not about politics. This is about the sustainability of the family farm in Canada.”

Meanwhile, federal officials told a committee of MPs that an AAFC internal analysis suggests costs of grain drying are “a fairly small share of overall costs.”

While the analysis has not been made available to the public, officials say grain drying costs typically represent only one to two per cent of total costs for producers. Provinces and provincial producer groups have put forward numbers suggesting carbon taxes – including when added to grain drying – account for a significantly higher amount of overall costs, but AAFC officials suggest those figures factored in indirect costs, resulting in a higher estimate.

Horticultural Council holds AGM

The Canadian Horticultural Council held its annual general meeting Tuesday to Thursday in Ottawa. Among issues the hort sector faces are concerns over trade issues, access to crop protection materials and labour for the upcoming season.

President Brian Gilroy added to the chorus of groups raising concern over business risk management (BRM) programs as well.

“A lot of fruit and vegetable farmers are diversified to some degree, and the more you diversify, the less likely you are to draw from AgriStability,” he said. “It’s very frustrating for fruit and vegetable farmers who can have disastrous years and still not be able to draw from the program.”

Changes to the suite of BRM programs, including AgriStability, are expected to come in July.

New report questions export goals

Canada’s Advisory Council for Economic Growth (ACEG) set an ambitious target that would see agriculture and agri-food exports reach $75 billion by 2027. The federal government goal is to reach $75 billion by 2025.

Last year, Canada’s agriculture, food and seafood exports reached $67 billion.

A new report from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute checks in on the progress of those targets. While there has been some clear improvement, it calls into question Canada’s ability to reach its targets. It argues there is a need for more investment in food and beverage processing in order for Canada to withstand turbulent trade disruptions and reach its trade goals.

The industry bringing itself from a $1.1 billion trade deficit in 2015 to a $2.7 billion surplus in 2017 is impressive, but global trade issues coupled with stark events such as the COVID-19 outbreak could still threaten progress.

The report calls for government to enhance regulatory mechanisms, offer better tax incentives, reduce labour shortages and improve transportation systems to help reach the $75 billion target.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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Indigenous communities opposed to the construction of a gas pipeline project in British Columbia started interrupting rail traffic last week. Canadian National Railway, the country’s biggest railroad operator, is shutting operations in Eastern Canada.

“I am deeply concerned about protests that deliberately prevent the operation of railways through illegal activity,” Transport Minister Marc Garneau told a news conference.

“It is about people’s jobs and livelihoods and about the transport of key supplies like food, propane, heating oil and chemicals for water treatment, (and) agricultural products for export,” he said.

The Association of Canadian Port Authorities said some ports were turning away vessels and shippers were beginning to reroute some cargo to the U.S. Superior Propane, Canada’s largest provider of propane, forecast critical supply shortages would start in the coming days.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged what he said had been “a really difficult week” but dismissed opposition calls to deploy the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to end the protests.

“Obviously we are not the kind of country where politicians get to tell the police what to do in operational matters,” he told a news conference in Munich, Germany.

“We will ensure that everything is done to resolve this through dialogue and constructive outcomes.”

Trudeau came to power in November 2015 promising to improve relations with Canada’s Indigenous bands, many of whom complain they are marginalized and economically deprived. Although some groups claim to have a veto over economic development on their lands, a court said last month they had no such right.

The two cabinet ministers in charge of aboriginal affairs are preparing to meet with local indigenous bands in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

Garneau noted blockades in British Columbia and Manitoba had already been removed.

The most damaging protest is near Belleville, Ont., where CN has won court injunctions to end the action but Ontario Provincial Police, responsible for enforcing the measures, have so far not acted.

Andrew Scheer, leader of the official opposition Conservatives, said that unless the government ended the protests it would “be setting a dangerous precedent that a small few can have a devastating impact.”

— David Ljunggren is a Reuters political correspondent in Ottawa; additional reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg.

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The affected employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted 91.3 per cent to ratify a three-year contract with CN, retroactive to last July 23, the union said in a release Friday.

The agreement on which employees voted had been reached Nov. 26, wrapping up an eight-day strike by about 3,200 affected employees.

The strike “severely impact(ed) the Canadian economy,” CN said Friday. The company on Tuesday noted the dispute also contributed to a six per cent dent in CN’s fourth-quarter gross revenue compared to the year-earlier period.

This specific work stoppage also had the unusual effect of angering farmers clear across the country. Growers in Eastern Canada found themselves in need of on-time propane deliveries by rail in November to dry down the fall harvest.

Prairie growers, generally captive customers of Canada’s big two railways when moving grain to port, typically face costs in any rail labour disruption — but also needed to fire up their grain dryers this fall against late harvests.

“We did not get everything we wanted, but we still succeeded in reaching a fair agreement which will keep the trains running while improving rail safety,” Teamsters Canada national president Francois Laporte said in a release Friday.

The new agreement binds CN to waive what the TCRC called a “work-now-grieve-later” policy, which the union said had compelled employees to keep working when they seek to book rest and be relieved. The deal also provides for extra compensation for affected staff who are still on the job 30 and 60 minutes into their rest periods.

The deal, which runs to July 22, 2022, also “clarif(ies) when workers are on paid time” by defining shifts as starting and ending at an employee’s specific locker facility. CN had previously counted trips to employee locker facilities as off-duty time, the union said.

TCRC president Lyndon Isaak, in the union’s release Friday, said “the core problem of fatigue in the rail industry can only be resolved through government regulations… The issue of fatigue is still far from resolved.”

The TCRC said the deal also includes an “industry-standard” eight per cent wage increase over the course of the agreement and a taxable $1,000 ratification bonus. The agreement also increases an employee’s lifetime health benefits cap to $75,000, up $15,000.

“Unless the federal government implements a universal pharmacare program, this issue will likely come up again in the next round of bargaining,” the union said.

Calls from various affected industries for federal back-to-work legislation went unanswered during the November strike, which also led to protests by farmers.

“Ottawa used to routinely violate workers’ right to strike in the rail sector,” Laporte said in Friday’s release, praising the current government for having “remained calm and focused on helping parties reach an agreement.”

For CN’s part, “we are pleased to have completed these agreements,” CEO JJ Ruest said in a separate release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Vancouver Island MP Paul Manly, the Green Party’s caucus critic for agriculture, announced the party’s position Monday.

“We support the grain producers of Canada in their appeal to the federal government to waive the carbon tax on fuel used for grain drying during last year’s harvest,” he said in a release.

“The disruption and expense of last year’s weather-plagued harvest is already causing widespread hardship. Carbon tax relief is justified and necessary.”

“Farmers are always looking for efficiencies and would certainly adopt energy efficient grain dryers if they were available,” Kate Storey, the Greens’ non-sitting shadow cabinet agriculture critic, said in the same release.

“For now, we have few choices. If nature fails to provide the sun and wind required to dry the grain in the field, we are forced to use grain drying equipment which adds cost to food production… In a wet year, the carbon tax on fuel needed for grain drying just adds insult to injury.”

The Greens on Monday also called on the federal Liberal government “to invest in the development of energy-efficient grain drying technology and short-season crop varieties, and to promote farming techniques for early maturity and quick harvest,” Manly said.

Green Party policy calls for a “revenue-neutral” price on carbon pollution through a fee and dividend system, but also calls for federal assistance for farmers and “others in vulnerable sectors” to further adapt to climate change.

Ag groups calling for carbon tax relief for grain drying include, among others, the National Farmers Union, which in mid-December passed a resolution seeking a rebate for farmers for fuel used in on-farm grain drying.

“More grain is being dried all over the Prairies than we have ever seen, and producers have been very startled at the extra cost of the tax when they get their bills,” Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said in a separate release in November following the re-appointment of Marie-Claude Bibeau as federal ag minister.

On some bills, he noted, the carbon tax is a surcharge of 40 per cent on the commodity cost of propane and natural gas — bills “that are going to be hard to pay in a difficult year.”

Markus Haerle, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario, in November described the tax as one “farmers cannot afford to pay when markets and harvest conditions are so challenging… Burdening grain farms with this tax means that farmers cannot invest in technologies that can combat climate change.”

Bibeau, for her part, recently said she plans to seek out more information on carbon pricing’s effects on farms.

“This is the case that I am building right now, to see if, in fact, I do have a case to present in front of the minister of environment and the minister of finance,” she said earlier this month.

“I cannot go just on feelings, I have to go with a case built on evidence and this is what I’m building right now, with the collaboration of my provincial colleagues and the collaboration of the industry that is affected.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speaks publicly about “special considerations” for farmers, while at the same time openly questioning carbon pricing’s effect on their operations. By saying as much, one would suggest she is being willfully oblivious.

Bibeau now suggests she needs more information to convince her cabinet colleagues more exemptions — such as one for grain drying — are needed.

That sparked a justifiably outraged response from some industry groups and provincial government, who are frustrated because they believe they have already presented their case that carbon taxation doesn’t work for the sector.

Many farmers have taken to making the case themselves by sharing on social media platforms the high costs they are facing as a result of carbon pricing.

Is that enough to win over the carbon-pricing happy federal Liberal government?

So far, it clearly is not.

Weighing against the farmers’ case is Ottawa’s desire to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions and fulfill its international agreements. As is, projections suggest that won’t happen; the $20 per tonne charge on greenhouse gas emissions would have to rise to roughly $210 a tonne for those targets to be met.

And if the recent election is used as a gauge, there is a clear desire among Canadians for carbon pricing, given most voters chose a party that supports it.

That is to say the Liberals have little to gain by easing their efforts to cut emissions, especially when they already offer a slate of exemptions to the agriculture sector, such as those on methane from livestock and nitrous oxide from cropland.

Instead, they are in a position where they are essentially asking for substantial proof their carbon policy hurts farmers, while continuing to largely ignore the already available evidence that it is doing just that.

Harvest 2019 was the first that included carbon pricing, so the sample size is indeed small. Farmers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick were subject to it; Alberta started falling under the federal system this month.

Already there are reports of farmers saying the policy cost thousands of dollars this year — and many aren’t accounting for indirect costs, like transport fees. These costs are significantly higher than any rebate being offered under the supposed “revenue-neutral” carbon pricing policy.

The Liberals also effectively ignored warning signs carbon pricing would have a negative impact on agriculture. Industry groups put out reports suggesting the carbon price would cost over $2 per acre, while the Senate recommended exemptions needed to be re-examined, “with special attention to competitiveness for producers and food affordability for Canadians.”

That report said the federal government should exempt the fuel costs for machinery that heats or cools a building used for farming and exempt propane and natural gas for all farming activities.

Had the federal government heeded those reports, given credence to various warnings and considered the already available evidence, farmers would not have been stuck paying high costs for grain drying and other operations this year.

And Bibeau wouldn’t be asking them to prove it.

— D.C. Fraser writes for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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The eight-day-long work stoppage at Canada’s largest railroad sent shocks through the country’s economy with grain and propane shipments scuttled.

The strike by about 3,200 conductors and yard workers demanding improved working conditions and rest breaks ended on Tuesday as the company reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters union.

In a statement, CN said the strike caused its network to run at about 10 per cent of capacity and that it would work on starting its recovery plan while staying in direct contact with customers of the railroad to collect feedback on progress.

“Overriding emphasis will be placed on safety as we implement a disciplined and progressive ramp up to avoid congestion that can overwhelm parts of the supply chain that are the most vulnerable,” said CEO JJ Ruest.

Canada relies on CN and Canadian Pacific Railway to move products such as crops, oil, potash, coal and other manufactured goods to ports and the United States.

The CN strike sparked national attention over worker fatigue, after the Teamsters released a recording of an exhausted rail worker pleading with a CN supervisor for a break after a 10-hour shift.

As part of the deal ending the strike, CN will waive the “work-now-grieve-later principle,” under which workers were told to stay on the job and only contest any alleged break violations through the filing of a grievance, a source familiar with the matter said, confirming an earlier report by the Winnipeg Free Press.

CN declined comment on the agreement’s details while a spokesman for Teamsters Canada was not immediately available for comment.

The draft of the new labour agreement also calls for a retroactive 2.5 per cent increase in hourly, mileage-based and flat rates of pay as of July 23, 2019, an identical wage rise a year later, and a three per cent raise in 2021, the source added.

Union members should vote on the deal within eight weeks.

— Reporting for Reuters by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bangalore.

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CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference announced separately Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement ending an eight-day strike by over 3,000 unionized staff.

The agreement called for affected employees to return to work starting at 2 p.m. local time Tuesday, with yard assignments starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday. There will be no job action while the unionized employees vote on whether to ratify the agreement, CN said.

Results from the ratification vote are expected within about eight weeks, the company said. Meetings are to be held across the country to explain the terms of the agreement to members, after which the affected employees will vote on the deal through a secret-ballot electronic vote, the Teamsters said, adding the process “usually takes several months.”

Details of the tentative deal won’t be released until the members have had a chance to review it, the union said. The Teamsters have previously said wages were not a sticking point in contract talks, but focused instead on issues such as worker safety and fatigue, and CN’s proposal for a lifetime cap on prescription drug coverage.

The strike has been described as the longest such work stoppage in the rail sector in a decade. Rail labour disputes in recent years have ended relatively quickly, often under threat of federal back-to-work legislation.

CN, during the strike, repeatedly called on the Teamsters to return to work and submit their labour dispute to binding arbitration — an option the union rejected.

Teamsters Canada, in its release, thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “for respecting workers’ right to strike.” Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, Transport Minister Marc Garneau and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service “were instrumental in helping parties find common ground,” the union added.

“Previous governments routinely violated workers’ right to strike when it came to the rail industry,” Teamsters Canada president Francois Laporte said in the union’s release. “This government remained calm and focused on helping parties reach an agreement, and it worked.”

“These agreements are further evidence that when employers and organized labour work together, we get the best results for Canadians and for our economy,” Garneau and Tassi said in a statement. “We congratulate and thank both CN and the Teamsters for staying at the table and coming to an agreement for the benefit of all Canadians.”

‘Real risk’

All that said, the work stoppage halted rail service, leaving grain traffic stalled on the Prairies and backing up shipments of propane, required by farmers across the country to fuel grain dryers during a particularly wet harvest season.

“We are extremely pleased to see this strike come to an end and we hope for very quick ratification for all parties,” Markus Haerle, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario, said in a separate release Tuesday.

However, “many of our farmer-members desperately need propane to fuel grain dryers. We cannot sell wet corn and our crops were at real risk,” he said. “Farmers who had to find alternate drying means have suffered added costs and those that left corn in the field are dealing with deteriorating quality of their crop.

“We are hopeful that propane shipping will be seen as a high priority for everyone involved as the backlog of shipments is dealt with.”

Furthermore, he said, “it is very clear that rail is an essential service for this country. We expect the government will treat it as such in the near future.”

The idea of declaring rail an “essential service,” thus limiting future job action, found traction with other grain groups as well.

“While we’re grateful that the parties have come to an agreement, the federal government needs to take steps to ensure that grain farmers are not held ransom in the future. Rail service should be deemed an essential service,” Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, a Saskatchewan director with the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said Tuesday.

“The loss of two weeks of shipping time cannot be made up and it will take time to fill the backlog of cargo ships that are waiting in Vancouver,” the Wheat Growers said, adding CN “needs to use all available rolling stock and personnel to maximize the movement of grain.”

The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions concurred Tuesday, noting longshoremen in Canada “are already prevented from engaging in strikes that would impact the loading of grain vessels and the commissions believe those same provisions should be extended to rail.”

Thirty-five grain ships are reported to be waiting at Vancouver, some of which “will eventually incur demurrage penalties, which are ultimately charged back to farmers,” the commissions said Tuesday.

“The threat of strikes affecting grain movement is a recurring theme every few years and we need a long-term solution to ensure Canada can meet its export commitments,” Alberta Barley chair David Bishop said in the same release.

While not mentioning essential service rules, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said Tuesday that “in light of this strike, (it) will be consulting its membership to determine ways in which potential future rail service interruptions do not negatively impact Canadian farmers.”

Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles concurred, with chairman Marcel Groleau saying Tuesday such a situation must never again occur, calling the matter a question of both economic and food security. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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