Saskatchewan, Alberta push Ottawa to toughen grain handling legislation

REGINA – Saskatchewan and Alberta are calling for tougher federal laws for the grain transportation system after a bottleneck that has left crops sitting in bins across the Prairies.

An emergency order earlier this month from the federal government set minimum targets for railways of 11,000 cars a week and fines of up to $100,000 per day for failing to meet those targets.

But Saskatchewan says upcoming federal legislation should set a minimum of 13,000 grain cars per week and bump up the penalty to $250,000 per day.

Saskatchewan and Alberta both say money collected should benefit the farmers instead of landing in the federal coffers.

Alberta also says there should be increased rail track access so grain shippers can receive competitive service from more than one rail company.

The legislation is expected to be tabled when Parliament returns next week.