Canadian Pacific let down farmers on grain deliveries

02 October 1998

Canadian Pacific let down farmers on grain deliveries

A CANADIAN regulatory agency ruled that Canadian Pacific (CP) failed in its obligations to move Canadian grain to west coast ports last winter, a failure that farmers say cost them more than US$33 million.

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) filed the case. It said CP failed to meet contracts to deliver more than 1.5m tonnes of grain to the West Coast ports.

CP blamed poor weather for the problem.

The Canadian Transportation Agency said rail capacity was damaged by the harsh winter, but found that CP failed to treat grain shipments fairly in its allocation of reduced capacity.

The agency advised that the clarification of CPs obligations to the Canadian Wheat Company could be enough to address future concerns.

• Financial Times 02/10/98 page 30