Ottawa Ontario - Canada's agriculture minister will not say whether Ottawa will legislate more than 3,000 railway workers back to work, despite a looming strike deadline at one of this country's largest railways.
 
Lawrence MacAulay told iPolitics the decision to impose back-to-work legislation would be up to the federal cabinet.
 
He would not say whether he would support such a move at the cabinet table.
 
More than 3,000 Canadian Pacific (CP) conductors and engineers could walk off the job as early as 22:00 EST Tuesday evening.
 
The workers have been without a collective agreement since 2017.
 
Teamsters Canada (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) gave CP formal strike notice for the second time in less than two months on Saturday.
 
The same day railway officials announced they had started to shut down its rail network in anticipation of a possible work stoppage.
 
The union's strike notice came less than 24 hours after the workers overwhelmingly rejected CP's latest offer at the union's urging, who had argued the proposed agreement does not address workers' wage and fatigue concerns.
 
The ratification vote had been requested by CP officials and backed by Labour Minister Patty Hajdu as well as federal mediators.
 
Hajdu had been in Calgary monitoring the ongoing negotiations, but was spotted back in Ottawa Monday evening.
 
Grain Growers of Canada President Jeff Nielsen said farmers, who are still recovering from this past winter's grain shipping backlog that left millions of tonnes of prairie goods stranded, are "concerned" about the possibility of a strike.
 
This winter's backlog was the second to hit the region in five years.
 
"As grain farmers continue to recover from the winter's grain backlog, it is essential that shipping stays on track and we are calling on CP and the unions to stay at the table and negotiate in good faith to prevent a service disruption," Nielsen said in a release.
 
CP workers voted 94.2 percent in favour of strike action 6 Apr 2018.
 
The employees have been without a collective agreement since the end of 2017.
 
It is the third time in six years CP employees have been in a strike position.
 
Saturday was not the first time union officials have given CP officials formal strike notice.
 
They also gave notice on 18 Apr 2018 which prompted officials to start shutting down its rail network.
 
That work stoppage was avoided just hours before the strike deadline because of the requested ratification vote.
 
Former Transport Minister Lisa Raitt has warned a CP strike would be "catacalysmic" to the national economy.
 
The Ontario MP also ordered CP workers back to work in 2012 while serving as federal labour minister.
 
Raitt, who now serves as the Conservative Party's deputy leader told iPolitics in April that the Canadian transportation system cannot handle a work stoppage longer than seven to ten days.
 
A strike, she said, would force several auto manufacturing plants to close because they will not be able to get parts and other products traditionally moved by rail.
 
Delays in coal, mining, oil, and grain shipments should also be expected.
 
Kelsey Johnson.