Why Canada's rail dispute matters in a province without trains

With Canada's two biggest freight railroad companies set to enter binding arbitration with the labour unions representing their workers, there are still concerns about what a prolonged disruption could mean for Prince Edward Island.

The province hasn't had a rail system for decades, but trucks usually pick up supplies from train yards on the mainland and bring them the rest of the wayor vice-versa in the case of things P.E.I. is exporting.

"Our big concern about the Port of Halifax is that container ships that come to Halifax are also going to many other places up and down the seaboard," said Russ Mallard, president of Atlantic Beef Products, a beef processor in central P.E.I.

"Let's pretend they are coming to Halifax first to pick up or drop off. They're not going to wait around.They're going to drop their containers off. The container port will likely fill up very quickly."

Freight traffic on the two largest rail networks came to a halt simultaneously early Thursday morning after months of increasingly tense and bitter labour negotiations.

Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd.(CPKC) locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties failed to agree on a new contract before the midnight deadline.

Atlantic Beef Products likely won't face an immediate impact, said Mallard, because most of its product is shipped across Canada by truck.But there could be knock-on effects.

It's incredibly disconcerting Canada cannot afford this. Mary Robinson, senator from P.E.I.

Grain is often dried in propane heaters on the road to becoming feed for cattle.And the bulk of propane distribution is done by rail, Mallard said.

While scans of the market so far show propane inventories are good in the Atlanticregion, "if this went on for any length of time, I think that would also be a real impact," he said.

Neil Campbell, manager of the P.E.I.Grain Elevator Corporation, will be keeping a close eye onthe propane supply.

"We dry our grain here with propane, and as the harvest drags on, it will probably be wetter and wetter," said Campbell."We do use a lot of propane."

Grain can't be shipped wet and it won't keep in storage very long before it starts to spoil, he said."It certainly would be frustrating."

The grain already in storage at Campbell's facility is dry, so he's not worried about it. The concern is with the new product coming in.

Senator Mary Robinson is the former vice-president of the World Farmers' Organisation, an umbrella group for national farmers' organizations and agricultural co-operatives from all over the planet. She toois monitoring the stoppage.

Lack of trains will restrict movement of P.E.I. grains and other commodities

1 month ago

Duration 2:13

Two large railway companies have locked out thousands of workers across Canada, a move that could have serious consequences for the shipment of various commodities to and from this province. We hear from P.E.I. Grain Corporation manager Neil Campbell, Russ Mallard of Atlantic Beef Products, and Sen. Mary Robinson about the potential effects of the work stoppage and what comes next.

"It means the railtrains are standing still, it means crop is not moving, fertilizer is not moving, propane is not moving, nothing is moving and that is incredibly unfortunate, especially right now because we are in the middle of harvest," said Robinson, who for decades helpedmanage a long-established family farm operation on P.E.I.

"This is the first time we have seen both national railways close their doors. It's incredibly disconcertingCanada cannot afford this."

Officials with the P.E.I. government said they hope both sides can come to an agreement to prevent a prolonged stoppage. The province's Emergency Measures Organization said it's doing what it calls "enhanced monitoring" of the situationand working with neighbouring provinces to put contingency plans in place.