Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday demanded aboriginal protesters lift rail blockades that are hurting the economy and made clear police should, if necessary, enforce injunctions to remove the obstacles. Trudeau also told a news conference that the Liberal government’s talks with various indigenous leaders over the last two weeks […] Read more

Trudeau demands rail blockades be lifted
Canadians' patience running out, PM says

Feed weekly outlook: Softening barley market to stabilize
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed barley bids in Western Canada have softened over the past few weeks, but should stabilize as the spring approaches. “I don’t think there’s a lot of potential to push this thing much higher, and I don’t think the bottom will fall out either. What you see is what you get,” Matt Froehlich, […] Read more

Police cautious on rail blockades due to legacy of past violence
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — As a blockade of Canada’s rail lines drags on and the economic impact deepens, police aware of the bitter legacy created by past fatal clashes with indigenous protesters have chosen not to clear the tracks by force. For the past two weeks, campaigners blocked rail lines in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta […] Read more

Fraser: Rail blockades should be a lesson for all
Reading Time: 3 minutes Our latest so-called national crisis led to calls for police to arrest protesters and tear down blockades, but perhaps we should be thinking about how to prevent conflicts like this from happening in the first place. It’s amazing how much can change in just a few days. Canada’s Agriculture Day on Feb. 11 brought together […] Read more

Grain vessels backing up at West Coast
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Vessels waiting to ship grain off Canada’s West Coast are backing up as blockades across the country slow rail traffic, according to reports tracking grain movement. Railway blockades have sprung up at a number of locations across the country over the past two weeks, as protestors express solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing […] Read more

Passenger trains to run again, pipeline protests block freight
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Passenger rail operator Via Rail said Tuesday it would soon resume partial services between Quebec City and Ottawa while the government sought to end anti-pipeline protests that are blocking rail freight in Eastern Canada. Via said passenger services between the two cities would start on Thursday after it received a notification […] Read more

CN halts rail traffic in East due to protests
Grain groups seek dispute resolution or enforcement of court orders
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian National Railway (CN) is shutting down its Eastern Canada operations due to ongoing blockades on its rail lines in Ontario. The company announced Thursday it’s been “forced to initiate a disciplined and progressive shutdown” in the region, which means “stopping and safely securing all transcontinental trains across its Canadian network.” The decision “may imminently […] Read more