Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
December 31, 2007
The Western Grains
Research Foundation (WGRF) is set to receive $3,948,371 from
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The Canadian Transportation
Agency (CTA) has announced that CPR has exceeded its revenue cap
for the movement of western Canadian grain for the 2006-07 crop
year. The excess ($3,760,353) plus a 5 per cent penalty is to be
paid to WGRF within 30 days.
The news release from the Canadian Transportation Agency is
available at
www.cta-otc.gc.ca.
While the WGRF has received payments from the railways in other
years when the revenue cap was exceeded, this represents the
largest single amount. The CTA ruled that Canadian National was
under its revenue cap for 2006-07.
“Based on past experience, we know that the decisions of the
Canadian Transportation Agency can be appealed,” notes Amanda
Soulodre, WGRF communications manager. “We’ll be watching
closely to see what happens this time.”
For the 2005-06 crop year, CPR was ruled to be approximately
$1.5 million over its revenue cap. When CPR appealed the
decision, WGRF was asked to repay more than half ($870,783) of
the money.
More than $2.8 million was received from Canadian National for
exceeding the revenue cap in 2005-06. CN has appealed that
decision and a final ruling is expected early in the New Year.
Under the Canada Transportation Act, amounts received by the
railways in excess of the revenue cap are paid into the WGRF
Endowment Fund. Interest earned on the Endowment Fund is used to
support crop research projects. The WGRF also collects a
check-off from producers on wheat and barley sales, and those
funds are invested in public wheat and barley breeding programs
across Western Canada.
“Sometimes we hear comments that excess railway revenue should
be returned to the farmers that paid the freight rates in the
first place,” notes Soulodre. “We understand where these
comments are coming from, but administratively it would be very
difficult and costly to figure out an entitlement for each grain
producer. Directing the excess revenue cap funds to the WGRF
means farmers of Western Canada will be paid out dividends from
this investment in the form of research advancements across all
crop types. This keeps our farmers competitive against the rest
of the world”
Producers representing a broad cross-section of farm
organizations serve on the 16-member board that guides WGRF.
More information on the organization and its research projects
is available at
www.westerngrains.com. |
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