RECOMMENDATION 1

That the Canadian Transportation Agency retain the flexibility provided under the Canada Transportation Act by the Fair Rail For Grain Farmers Act to set interswitching distances up to 160 km, in order to maintain a more competitive operating environment for rail shippers with direct access to only one railway company.

RECOMMENDATION 2

That the Minister of Transport request the Canadian Transportation Agency to examine the railway interswitching rates it prescribes to ensure that they are compensatory for railway companies.

RECOMMENDATION 3

That the Government of Canada negotiate an agreement with the Government of the United States of America that provides Canadian railway companies with access to U.S. rail traffic, just as the Canadian interswitching provisions in the Canada Transportation Act provide for U.S. railway companies.

RECOMMENDATION 4

That the Governor in Council’s discretion provided in section 116.2 of the Canada Transportation Act to require the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railway companies to move minimum volumes of grain be maintained.

RECOMMENDATION 5

That the Canadian Transportation Agency develop a model to calculate the minimum grain volume requirements provided under section 116.2 of the Canada Transportation Act so that no grain shippers are unduly disadvantaged by the policy.

RECOMMENDATION 6

That the temporary amendments made to the Canada Transportation Act by the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act pertaining to railway level of service compensation and the definition of operational terms that could be subject to arbitration be made permanent.

RECOMMENDATION 7

That “adequate and suitable accommodation” be clarified in the Canada Transportation Act in a manner that balances shippers’ needs for timely service and railway network efficiency.

RECOMMENDATION 8

That the Canada Transportation Act be amended to give rail shippers appropriate recourse to a dispute resolution process that is effective and cost efficient during their negotiation of service level agreements with railway companies.

RECOMMENDATION 9

That Transport Canada establish true commercial accountability for freight railway companies by ensuring that they are subject to financial penalties for failure to meet the terms of service level agreements with their customers.

RECOMMENDATION 10

That the Canadian Transportation Agency have access to necessary data related to transportation logistics from all participants in the grain supply chain, from producers to transportation service providers, including marine.

RECOMMENDATION 11

That the Canadian Transportation Agency and the Minister of Transport monitor commodity movements and respond to system performance issues.

RECOMMENDATION 12

That the Maximum Grain Revenue Entitlement regime provided by the Canada Transportation Act be retained until federal decision-makers have sufficient market data to determine whether the grain supply chain can function efficiently with market-based prices for rail services.

RECOMMENDATION 13

That the Maximum Grain Revenue Entitlement formula contained in the Canada Transportation Act be adjusted to account independently for investments made by individual railway companies and to exclude revenues earned from interswitching operations and containerized grain movements.

RECOMMENDATION 14

That the Canadian Transportation Agency be mandated to initiate investigations into the performance of the rail transportation system on its own motion and be empowered to issue temporary orders to respond to system-wide service issues.

RECOMMENDATION 15

That Transport Canada place a moratorium on the discontinuance or abandonment of railway sidings to support the expansion of producer car shipments.

RECOMMENDATION 16

That the definition of “shipper” in the Canada Transportation Act be expanded to include producer cars used in rail transportation.

RECOMMENDATION 17

That the Government of Canada consider options to better enable shortline railways to maintain their existing assets as well as invest in new infrastructure and rolling stock.