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AGFO - Standing Committee

Agriculture and Forestry

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41-2 41st Parliament, 2nd Session (October 16, 2013 - August 2, 2015)
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Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Agriculture and Forestry

Issue 12 - Fifth Report of the Committee

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry has the honour to present its

FIFTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-30, An Act to amend the Canada Grain Act and the Canada Transportation Act and to provide for other measures, has, in obedience to the order of reference of May 13, 2014, examined the said Bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

PERCY MOCKLER

Chair

OBSERVATIONS to the
Fifth Report of the
Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
(Bill C-30)

The committee held nine hours of study hearing from twenty-four witnesses. While all witnesses, with the exception of two, agreed this legislation is necessary and were supportive of it achieving Royal Assent in an expeditious manner, the committee notes the following:

Many stakeholders believe that the Ministers of Transport and Agriculture and Agri-Food must consult with all stakeholders when establishing mandatory volume requirements and that these take into account producer car, short-line and corridor-by-corridor requirements.

Many stakeholders believe that the Government of Canada should implement the necessary regulations to give effect to farmer/grain company contracts, interswitching and service level agreements by the beginning of the new crop year on August 1, 2014.

Many stakeholders expressed concerns over the ambiguity surrounding service level agreements. While Bill C-30 gives the Canadian Transportation Agency the authority to regulate those service level agreements, the Canada Transportation Act does not provide for a definition of ''adequate and suitable'' or for ''service obligations''. The bill accelerates the upcoming review of the Canada Transportation Act currently scheduled to begin June 2015. Consequently, the committee believes that during the upcoming review of the Canada Transportation Act, the examinations should include an exploration of definitions for ''adequate and suitable'' and for ''service obligations''.

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