Saskatchewan bracing for railroad strike which could have billion-dollar impact

Saskatchewan farmers and businesses alike are bracing for the potential railway stoppage that could be now just days away.

Experts estimate a strike by CP and CN Railways could cause losses as high as $1 billion a day.

A last-minute push is now underway to keep the trains going and save harvest season across the Prairies. The strike could begin as soon as Thursday.

“This strike will affect every single Canadian and every single person in Saskatchewan,” said Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Mining Association.

Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Ian Boxall echoed the sentiment, saying a rail stoppage would undoubtedly cause problems across the country.

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“Thirty-three billion dollars worth of grain is exported out of Canada every year,” Boxall said. “A potential work stoppage by the railroads would be a huge detriment to Canadian producers, to Saskatchewan producers, and overall to the Canadian economy.”

Boxall said he believes any damage to Canada’s supply chain could impact global trade relations.

“If you’re a country that’s relying on a product you’re buying from Canada and every year we face issues, they might go somewhere else to find the product,” Boxall said.

Schwann said resources like Saskatchewan’s potash have no way of getting to market without the railway.

“Both rail lines, with CN and CP being out at the same time, that’s never happened before,” she said. “There’s absolutely just no option about how to move the product. It’s not going to move.

“We’re looking at the millions of dollars per day impact if we don’t get that potash to market. If our potash doesn’t get to market, that means that Belarus and Russia will supply it, and they will take our market share, as they did during last year’s strike at the West Ports.”

Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon has the power to force the rail companies and the union into binding arbitration but says the two sides “must do the hard work necessary at the bargaining table and prevent a full work stoppage”.