Saskatchewan farmer reacts to end of CP Rail labour dispute

A Canadian railroad work stoppage didn’t last long.

On Sunday, a labour disruption hit Canadian Pacific Railway. The company said workers went on strike, while the union said its members were locked out.

However, the two sides announced Tuesday they had agreed to final and binding arbitration to end the work stoppage.

Workers will be on the job, with trains rolling Tuesday.

The news is a relief for many Saskatchewan farmers.

There were concerns about how a long work stoppage would prevent them from importing things they need for the farm, and exporting their crops.

Ian Boxall, a farmer near Tisdale and president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), shared those concerns.

“I worried that we wouldn’t have our inputs in place for spring. The railroads bring in a lot of fertilizer and a lot of chemical … I also had worry about feed sources that are coming up from the States for the livestock sector, after last year’s drought and the reduction in hay and feed availability,” he said Tuesday morning.

Now that the disruption has come to an end, it’s a weight off Boxall’s shoulders.

“I think it’s good for all Canadians. We have two railroads in this country that import a lot of what we purchase. We’re also an exporting nation, so having those railroads there to export the goods we do make (is huge),” he said.

He also believes the impact of a long work stoppage would have been felt for a long time.

“We need to ensure that our global customers understand that our supply chain is intact. If we continue to have hiccups in our supply chain, they will see us as an unreliable source for those commodities,” Boxall said.

He also said demand for Canadian goods is rising due to the war in Ukraine, so massively cutting exports due to the work disruption would have been a major blow.

That being said, the short stoppage may still have an effect on Saskatchewan farmers.

“Prior to a strike, there’s always a downturn in orders because people don’t know what’s going to happen, so I think there will be some small effects, absolutely,” Boxall said.

But overall, he believes it could have been much worse.

“I’m happy to hear that they’re back to work for the betterment of all Canadians,” he said.