SWIFT CURRENT, Sask.-The National Farmers Union is calling for an immediate reduction in freight rates in the wake of a Canadian Wheat Board study released Tuesday that demonstrates that railways are overcharging farmers $224 million annually.

"The government should reduce freight rates by $5 per tonne in time for the August 1 start of the 1999-2000 crop year. Further, the government should require the railways to pay back the $200 million that they overcharged during the 1998-1999 crop year. Together, these two actions would put more money into the pockets of western farmers than will the AIDA program," said Stewart Wells, NFU Saskatchewan Board Member.

Wells noted that the NFU pointed out these railway windfalls to Willard Estey in the NFU's March 9, 1998 and September 8, 1998 briefs. "Estey knew that the railways are overcharging farmers and he chose to do nothing about it. He could have recommended a full costing review and immediate productivity-gain sharing but chose not to. Estey's final report was-and the current Kroeger process is-exceedingly railway friendly," said Wells.

"People need to remember why the Estey Report was commissioned: poor rail performance. The Wheat Board proved, in its Canada Transportation Agency case, that the railways chose to allocate resources to moving other commodities while grain sat in elevators and farmers' bins. Far from being punished, however, the CWB's study shows that the railways are being lavishly rewarded. Further, if Estey and Kroeger have their way, those rewards will increase substantially. Farmers facing the worst income crisis since the 1930s cannot afford to provide increased rewards to insatiable railways," said Wells.

CN and CP profits for 1998 exceeded the combined realized net income of the approximately 79,000 farm families in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Wells concluded: "It's a crime that the railways have been able to pocket these hundreds of millions while farm families are left to face bankruptcy. It's an ongoing crime that Transport Minister David Collenette refuses to conduct a full costing review and to ensure that farmers get their proper share of system productivity gains."

For More Information:

• Stewart Wells, Sask. Board Member: (306) 773-6852
  
• Darrin Qualman, Executive Secretary: (306) 652-9465

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