As the clock ticks towards the deadline for a simultaneous stoppage by Canada’s two main railway companies, more details are emerging about the potential impacts on the flow of goods and the Canadian economy. As noted by the CBC article, "How a rail stoppage could affect freight, farming, french fries and more", a railway shutdown could impact a wide range of Canadian products and industries.
"Already, some perishable food is not being shipped by rail, said Michael Graydon, chief executive officer of Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada, an industry group.
Graydon said frozen food, such as french fries, could already have stopped being shipped. Meat and fruit such as bananas, which often arrive in Canada by rail after first arriving in the United States, could also be affected, he said. . . . In addition to the agricultural sector, the automotive sector and Canada's ports would be among those most affected by a stoppage, said Western University's Fraser Johnson.
Johnson said rail is "an integral part of our supply chain that handles, for example, 50 per cent of all Canadian exports, but it's incredibly important to a number of [domestic] industries."
Car manufacturers, for instance, "still receive a lot of components from suppliers via rail and certainly ship out cars from their assembly plants via rail as well," he said."
For its part, the federal government continues to urge both sides to come to an agreement. "My message is straightforward: it is in the best interest of both sides to continue doing the hard work at the table to find a negotiated resolution," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during brief remarks Wednesday, "Trudeau urges railways, union to reach an agreement as clock ticks down to massive shutdown"
The CSCB will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional updates as they become available.