Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway has raised a red flag over a recent report on rail performance commissioned by a coalition of agricultural shippers in Western Canada.
 
The Ag Transport Coalition, which comprises producer groups and grain shippers, released a report 27 Jan 2015 that suggested the country's major railway companies are providing inadequate service to the agriculture industry.
 
The report was funded in part by a federal grant furnished through Agriculture Canada's Growing Forward 2 program.
 
Shippers involved in the coalition have lobbied Ottawa for tougher legislation to ensure better rail service.
 
On 30 Jan 2015 CP issued a strongly worded statement saying it "is appalled that a government funded group can claim it is trying to enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural supply chain."
 
It is unclear how much Ottawa contributed to the coalition.
 
The report was prepared by QGI Consulting, a consulting company whose affiliates include Quorum Corp., the federally appointed monitor of Canada's grain handling and transportation system.
 
"The use of public funds to drive a single, self-serving agenda, under the guise of solving large, complex, supply chain issues is unconscionable," said CP chief executive officer Hunter Harrison.
 
"It is our belief that any discussions about commodity movement should include all pieces of the supply chain puzzle," he added.
 
"It is disingenuous for the Ag Transport Coalition to say it wants to improve the agricultural supply chain if they don't want to involve transportation stakeholders in the discussion."
 
Coalition spokesperson Wade Sobkowich, who introduced the report during an online news conference, declined to comment 30 Jan 2015.
 
The coalition report and CP's response come at a sensitive time for the federal government.
 
Ottawa recently launched a federal review of the Canada Transportation Act and is under scrutiny to address what agricultural shippers consider unreliable and inadequate rail service.
 
With railways and shippers offering different assessments of railway performance, attention is focused on the CTA review process and Ottawa's response to it.
 
Canadian National Railway has also criticized the coalition report, saying it overlooks the fact that Canada's largest railway companies moved record amounts of grain to market position last year.
 
In a 27 Jan 2015 email, officials from CN said their railway hauled more grain during the 2013-14 crop year than ever before.
 
Performance so far in the 2014-15 crop year is ahead of last year's pace.
 
"CN is fully in sync with the grain supply chain in Western Canada, where end-to-end balance has been restored," the CN email said.
 
"So far, nearly half-way through the 2014-2015 crop year, CN has spotted 16 percent more grain covered hoppers in Western Canada than in the last crop year, when Canada reached an all-time record for grain exports."
 
Sobkowich, who is executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association, said the coalition was formed in response to "a tremendous lack of transparency in basic rail performance metrics on grain transportation in Canada."
 
Its first report was based on information provided by more than 15 grain shippers, which represent more than 70 percent of total grain movements in Western Canada.
 
"Up until this point, both government and the industry really had only railway data to rely on to benchmark performance metrics," Sobkowich said.
 
"Now we have a robust and credible source of quantitative data to ensure that a clear and complete picture of rail performance and grain transportation is available."

Brian Cross.