Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, Canadian farmers are anticipating significant harvests of grain across the Prairies this fall, if it ever stops raining. That is an encouraging sign, given last year’s devastating drought, and it is something that could help ease sky-high food inflation. But Canada’s top grain companies are concerned that they will not be able to get their shipments to port on time due to what they are hearing from major rail companies. In the annual CN Grain Plan, the railway company warned that it expects total demand for rail services between Edmonton and the West Coast ports to exceed network capacity during some weeks.

Leader, Canadian farmers have dealt with the same issue year after year thanks to your government’s inaction in addressing our critical supply-chain issues. To help with this, I note that your government put together yet another task force in March, but you will forgive us and me on this side if we’re not all that encouraged.

When will your government finally act on this? When will you finally give Canadian farmers the break they deserve?