Farm groups and the rail strike.

[bucket]

Just curious since I pay check off funds to all these different groups for the commodities I sell. What do the Executive directors do all day? It takes 5 minutes to read the headlines. A few more to make a few calls to ask how the negotiating is going with the two sides of the rail strike.

Then a few more to talk to different politicians that they should have on speed dial.

If they say they represent farmers on the issues , then why are all the board of directors of the different organizations asking individuals to sign petitions?

They have our money through the checkoffs, they are to represent us as a whole which in reality should speak louder volumes than an individual.

it seems that everyone who goes to Ottawa , the only thing they accomplish is taking selfies with politicians and posting them on social media and let farmers think they are actually doing something.

Billions at stake as well as an international reputation. The politicians should have legislation written and being put out as the solution.

Then when the government actually does something ensure that the contracts do not run concurrently or expire at the same time or in August through November . That would be the least they could do.

Then open up the rail network.

[shtferbrains]

Terry Youzwa isn't shy.
He's on twitter if you want to contact him.

[bucket]

Sure thanks but these guys and their executive directors get paid to stay on top of these things. August 14th. Every farm group given the scope of both railways at the same time should have been yelling at politicians to get involved while the house was sitting back in June, maybe earlier.

Do I have 20/20 hindsight?, sure, but I don't get paid to watch contract dates, negotiations, politicians ignorance etc . Now every one wants a petition signed. Holy phuck.

Lobbyists are paid to do all that through checkoff funding and other resources. Politicians are paid to take an interest of their constituents and for the national economic interests. If a guy has to spoon feed them info, the questions remain WTF do they do all day.

Remember the provincial and national organizations get their money from almost every farmer. The petition is signed ,IMHO, when the funding is taken off my grain cheques and by extension when these guys speak on my behalf in a parliamentary committee.

Trudeau announced senators , why can't he look at some economic issues at the same time for a guy that works harder than the average Canadian according to himself?

[agstar77]

Email your local MP.

[bucket]

Email your local MP.

Good idea but they have known longer than I have that the contract expired in December 2023.

Billions at stake and every MP is on the BBQ circuit. MacAuley is taking photos with older people probably looking a senior living all summer since he is senile.

Conservatives are chasing a 60 million dollar arrivescam debacle which is about an hour and a half of the economic hurt to the economy when the RRs shutdown a billion dollars a day.

[SmallTimeOperator]

This shit hits the fan on Thursday and our MP’s of all stripes are saying nothing except for the moron Liberal transportation minister saying he’s going to stay out of it and let it happen. Unfrickenbelievable.

The only good thing is all the container freight will stop too, not just grain, potash and oil and gas.

Imagine the boats that will be sitting in the Vancouver harbour full of containers. Those containers move inland on the train first before they get moved by truck. And truck freight to move a single container from Vancouver to Toronto would be atrocious compared to the train freight. Here comes inflation.

Ontario and Quebec will be running out of propane, again. Walmarts and Dollar stores will be running short on junk to sell. Honestly, if the strike lasts more than a week I would be surprised. This will definitely crank inflation back up again once the shelves get empty. Better get stocked up on toilet paper in case the Liberal morons let it go on longer than a week.

[cropgrower]

Its the NDP is telling the fiberals what position to take

[SmallTimeOperator]

Jagmeet is bluffing. If the Liberals put forth the legislation, all they have to do is just make it a confidence vote too, and the NDP will fall back in line. If not, it would be a great opportunity to force an election. And we would forgive the Conservatives for doing so. Maybe this is why Conservatives have been quiet so far on this issue.

[bucket]

Just a funny from the WP read the article from the paper talking about the rail strike. I know it's auto correct.

"""""In 2023, his predecessor, Seamus Oregano, issued such an order to end a dock workers strike in British Columbia.""'

[the big wheel]

Conservatives are quiet on this issue because we have a bunch of duds collecting pay checks and pensions to represent only the oil industry and nothing else out west. Sorry but its true. They ve gotten so used to personally attacking Trudeau, gays, and natives, carbon tax, foreigners, and maybe rightfully so or not but thats all they seem to know, theyve totally lost track of all our votes as being taken for granted. How in the world are they silent on the price of grain compared to our costs of production and what people are paying for groceries as well as parts etc?????

And as far as the carbon tax when ever they get questioned and have to answer they are in fact in favor of fighting climate change well that takes money in one shape or the other so whats their real answer, Harper was the one who began carbon pricing yet that all seems to be forgot since as mentioned the above hatred for Trudeau, gays, natives, over shadows any of our financial concerns.

As far as agriculture land has any of them raised a concern over foreign ownership? No because many of them are either part of or outright own companies facilitating the transfer
of lands so they basically like farmers being forced out. Not one word about the totally ineffective programs crop insurance or stability. People in the drought areas have no coverage with extreme premium. How bizarre is it that people that had rain and bumper crops the last 5 years will be the only ones with opportunity to collect from the agristability program due to the lower prices????? absolute insanity, and many of these changes came as a result of Ritz and that group but these no better for not correcting it.

[Wheatking]

Can someone explain to me why the liberals would need the NDP to vote for back to work legislation. Surely to Christ the conservatives wouldn't vote against it. We need these guys back to work ASAP with binding arbitration. Screw Jaghmeet and wasting time here. 100% of the railroaders I know would never vote for either the Liberals or NDP anyways, so who exactly are they pandering too. ec

The whole rail system in this country is f'd up, it really needs to be blown up and start again from scratch. The rail workers have legitimate concerns, but also get paid extremely well for what they do. They are essential workers and shouldn't be able to hold us hostage.

[mcfarms]

(Bloomberg) -- Some of the biggest U.S. agriculture trade groups are urging Canada’s prime minister to step in to avert a rail strike in the country that could disrupt the flow of North American commodities.

“We request that you take action to ensure railroad operations continue before a lockout or strike occurs to prevent serious damage to the Canadian and U.S. economies,” 35 U.S. industry groups wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Two of Canada’s largest railroad companies said they’ll shut down operations Thursday if they fail to reach an agreement with more than 9,000 of their unionized workers. The two companies account for 80% of Canada’s rail network.

The agriculture industry ships more than 25,000 rail cars a week of goods on Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and that figure would “go to zero” during a strike or lockout, according to Monday’s letter signed by groups including the U.S. Grains Council, American Farm Bureau Association and the National Grain and Feed Association. (Statistics Canada, Bloomberg cal)
Agriculture is particularly exposed to rail stoppages given that farmers rely on railways for the timely delivery of fertilizer, crop inputs and feed grains for the livestock industry, according to the letter. Biofuels operations, flour mills and other agriculture operations also require uninterrupted rail service.

Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon and federal mediators are set to meet with the parties on Tuesday and Wednesday, after the government declined to impose binding arbitration ([url]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-15/labor-minister-rejects-call-to-intervene-in-canada-rail-dispute[/url]) last week.

“Operational railroads are essential on both sides of the border for the integrated North American supply chain,” the groups wrote in their letter. “While we believe a negotiated solution is always the preferred outcome, your government should be prepared to move quickly if negotiations fail.”

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Jay Zhao-Murray.

[bucket]

Dear Valued Customer,

For the first time in Canadian history our two Class 1 rail providers, CN and CP, will be experiencing a labour disruption at the same time. This unprecedented event is expected to begin at 12:01 am on August 22, 2024; right as harvest on the prairies is reaching full swing. We know that this event, if it occurs, will place a significant burden on Canadian producers as well as the grain companies who serve them. Rest assured we are doing all that we can to continue to receive your grain and to explain to government the importance of averting this disaster, but we need your help!

We are encouraging all producers and customers to voice their concerns to our Minister of Labour, Mr. MacKinnon, and request that he refer the matter to binding arbitration. For your convenience, we are including a link where you can read more about this event as well as find a template letter for you to either submit directly to the Minister through the website or to copy print, sign and send to government officials here: [url]https://stopthestrike.ca/[/url].



Yours Truly,

Paterson Grain


As if the members of the Paterson family don't talk to liberal MPs.

Why ask individual farmers to voice their opinions when the grainco's CEOs have more influence ?

[fjlip]

"I’m to the point after 12 strikes in 14 years, that perhaps it needs to get to the worst point to make the appropriate changes and make all aspects of grain handling and transportation an essential service. This hostage situation for farmers needs to be concluded with a path that it can’t happen again. That would be my bargaining chip as Labour Minister. You have two choices – settle this in 24 hours or this is your last chance to strike or lockout workers – forever."

I like Larry's idea...

[Bushpusher]

The Conservatives are quiet on the issue now. But bet they start hollering and finger pointing after the railways shut down.
it’s almost like they want it to happen so they have something else to blame on the Liberals, but wtf do I know?
Not a single federal party worth voting for at this point. Just a bunch of knobs flinging shit at each other to make the other look worse.