OTTAWA — Fertilizer Canada is warning of “crippling effects” on agriculture nationally and globally should CP Rail shut down because of a union work stoppage.
In a March 11 statement, the fertilizer industry group called on the Teamsters and the rail company to “swiftly resolve” their negotiations to avoid that “potentially disastrous” outcome during the crucial spring seeding season. Seventy-five per cent of all fertilizer produced and used in Canada — and exported out of country — moves by rail.
A strike may force fertilizer facilities to curtail output or even shutdown, “impacting Canadian workers, the economy and food security,” the organization warns.
Fertilizer President and CEO Karen Proud pointed out that the ag sector “is already experiencing supply challenges compounded by the war in Ukraine and cannot withstand anymore disruption to the supply chain without severe consequences for farmers, food security in Canada and worldwide, and the Canadian economy.”
