Alberta grain farmers anxiously watching as B.C. export terminal strike lands amid harvest
CBC
Alberta's grain farmers are hopeful a labour dispute involving six Metro Vancouver grain terminals will be resolved soon so they can access the main export route for their crops.
On Tuesday morning, workers at the grain terminals headed to the picket lines. That followed the union, Grain Workers Union Local 333, serving strike notice after it and the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association (VTEA) could not come to an agreement on a new contract.
It's a significant disruption affecting terminal elevators at the Port of Vancouver, which handled around 52 per cent of all grain produced across Canada last year, according to the Grain Growers of Canada.
A statement attributed to Alberta Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson, citing data from the Canadian Grain Commission, suggests the work stoppage would disrupt approximately $35 million of grain exports arriving at the terminals daily.
"Alberta's government encourages both parties to work towards an agreement to avoid any further disruptions to grain movement at this critical time of the year," the statement reads.
"Going forward, we are calling on the federal government to respond more effectively to labour disputes that create widespread damage to critical supply chains, as well as our country's economy and reputation as a reliable trading partner."
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon posted on the social media platform X Tuesday, writing that he had spoken to both the union and the VTEA on Monday.
"At my request, parties have agreed to resume negotiations alongside federal mediators. After a bumper crop summer, Canadian farmers and businesses need to get their harvest to market. Parties need to work hard to get a deal," MacKinnon wrote.
For Alberta's grain farmers in the midst of harvest, there's hope for a swift resolution, said Larry Woolliams, who farms just west of Airdrie.
"We're about 30 per cent complete harvest right now with this strike … it's going to be really bad for all of us that are still harvesting," Woolliams said.
Mike Graham, president of South Slope Feeders, located south of Brooks, Alta., said a port shutdown would have a big impact.
"If we're not able to market our produce, it's a little tough to pay everyone else. So it just has ramifications right down the chain," he said.
Stephen Vandervalk farms near Fort Macleod, Alta., and is the vice-president of the Wheat Growers Association.
He said this development is the latest in a long line of frustrating challenges for Canadian farmers, including last month's rail stoppages as well as Chinese canola tariffs.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
Gusty winds, rapid fall in temperature prompt special weather statement for Waterloo region and area
The mid-week warmup in Waterloo region, Guelph and area will abruptly come to an end on Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada warns.
Water in two more schools in the N.W.T. show lead levels above Health Canada's guidelines for drinking water, according to the territorial government.
Ontario's ethics watchdog says it will investigate whether the province's labour minister contravened any laws in his handling of a controversial training fund.
Mitchell Rose, the 32-year-old man charged with three counts of attempted murder in St. John’s, will spend the next month on the forensic unit of a psychiatric hospital.
Nearly eight years after Halifax sold the historic Khyber building in the hopes it could be revived, the municipality says the site has become a “threat to safety” — and is taking it back.
The New Brunswick government has a strategy for reducing chronic homelessness in the province by 40 per cent over the next three years, Housing Minister David Hickey said Thursday.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé is stepping down.
A Winnipeg mother whose kids attend Winnipeg School Division schools says officials waited too long to let parents know classes would be cancelled on Thursday amid a winter blizzard that created dangerous road conditions across the city.
After one day of calm, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says a second Alberta clipper storm will begin to hit western Saskatchewan early Friday morning.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government is increasing how much it costs to apply for a citizen-initiated referendum by 5,000 per cent, saying it's about making sure applicants are serious.
A special unit established to solve cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people has solved the murder of a B.C. man in Washington State nearly a decade ago.
A judge ruled Thursday to remove an injunction in place since the summer against Alberta's law prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth.