LILLEY: CP Rail stoppage threatens economy, cross-border trade

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Think a shutdown of one of the biggest rail systems in North America doesn’t affect your modern life?

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You’d better think again and then hope for a quick settlement to the CP Rail labor dispute before everything you buy goes up in price — again.

Farmers across the country are concerned about fertilizer shipments being stalled prior to seeding; anyone who hasn’t had their fertilizer delivered could see delays getting crops in the ground if the dispute drags on.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said that even a work stoppage of one week could have a major impact.

“If trains do not continue running, we will run out of feed for our animals in one to two weeks,” CCA President Bob Lowe said Monday.

To put it bluntly, your food supply is at risk. Depending on what you do for a living, your job may also be at risk.

The rail dispute comes as Canadian business and political leaders are in Washington to assure the Americans that Canada remains a viable business partner. The border closures at Windsor, Coutts and Emerson in February were red meat for American politicians who lean to the protectionist side.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s an adversary or an ally — we can’t be this reliant on parts coming from foreign countries,” Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan, tweeted during the Windsor bridge blockade.

If this were just the sentiment of the representative for Lansing, we wouldn’t have to worry much, but protectionism runs through the Democratic Party and straight into the White House. Anything that slows trade, only encourages those in Washington who want to bring manufacturing and other economic engines back to the United States.

The work stoppage at CP also comes as regulators are considering whether to approve the company’s takeover of the Kansas City Southern Railway. If approved, and this work stoppage may play a role, the merger would create a massive railway operating in much of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

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Effectively, the merger would take CP from a lynchpin of the Canadian economy to being a key player in North America. All of that is in doubt, as are the assurances that Canadian business and political leaders were delivering in Washington Monday.

Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, tweeted that the rail strike had been raised multiple times since his arrival in Washington for meetings.

Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, wrote federal Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan, saying that rail disruptions will be devastating to Canada’s economy and coming on the heels of the border blockades, will send the wrong message.

“Given protectionist sentiments among many American policy-makers … this narrative cannot be reinforced by a protracted rail strike,” Kingston said.

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Both CP and the workers, represented by the Teamsters, have said the other side is to blame for the work stoppage. That’s not something the farmers hoping to seed, the 60,000 cattle ranchers looking to feed their herds, or the auto companies looking to keep workers on the line likely to care about.

They want a solution.

The Conservative opposition has been calling for the Trudeau government to take this issue seriously for weeks, as has the White House in Washington, but only recently have they stepped up to try and mediate. O’Regan has dismissed the idea of ​​bringing in back-to-work legislation, citing concern about workers’ rights being trampled and saying the national interest needs to be threatened before that happens.

When crops can’t get in the ground, when cattle will starve if they can’t be fed, when auto plants will be shuttered because of this work stoppage, I think the national interest has been threatened.

This work stoppage isn’t good for CP, it’s not good for the Teamsters’ members, and it’s not good for the rest of us.

Bring it to an end.