DECEMBER 2023 21 weaken the Canadian economy. That’s true only regarding the fact that a strike will cause economic hardships all around. The report continues: “Prohibiting the use of replacement management workers would directly contradict the government’s own stated policy objectives to improve the strength, resilience, and reliability of Canada’s supply chains.” It’s also true that with a prolonged strike and the ability to find workers to cross a picket line, the supply chain delays will only cause a greater stain on Canada’s global reputation for being able to supply products on time. However, this writer wonders if bringing in different labour personnel to replace striking workers is feasible with the written declarations of both CN and CPKC wanting their operations to run safely. It appears to contradict CPKC President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel, who wrote: “This report describes our plan to safely and reliably transport goods and resources, including grain and grain products, during the challenging Canadian winter.” There’s that word” safely”. Untrained, unskilled workers are not how a railroad should be operated, and neither should they be utilized at silos, docks, or any other place where materials are picked up and dropped off for rail transport. Another issue that CPKC raised within its report is that of extended interswitching. Interswitching is an operation performed by railway companies when a carrier picks up train cars from a customer (the shipper) and delivers them to another carrier that then performs the majority of the contracted rail transportation. Extended interswitching is, per Transport Canada, a temporary pilot extension of the interswitching limit in the Prairies that supports rail competition and will provide regulated access to additional railways. This, said Transport Canada, will also enhance shipper leverage to help secure better rates and service from their local carrier. In other words, they are trying to limit the power of the Canadian duopoly, which, depending on whose side you are on, is either a good thing or a bad thing. Canada announced in its Budget 2023 that it was bringing back the extended interswitching project that it had cancelled back in 2017, replacing it with 1 2023 AGDATA West Cereal Seed Treatment Report – Cereal Seed Treatments ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Bayer, Bayer Cross, Raxil® and Stress Shield® are registered trademarks of Bayer Group. Used under license. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada. ©2024 Bayer Group. All rights reserved. YOUR #1 IS NOW ALL-IN-ONE NOW PRE-MIXED IN A BOTTOM-DRAIN DRUM The #1 selling cereal seed treatment brand for over ten years running1 just got more convenient. Raxil® PRO SHIELD is now available in an all-in-one pre-mixed formulation, conveniently packaged in a bottom-drain drum. Now it’s easier than ever to use Raxil® PRO and Stress Shield® for contact and systemic protection from seed- and soil-borne diseases and wireworms. Talk to your Bayer representative or local retail today. • EMERGE STRONGER •
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