Ontario soybean container shipments have ground to a halt, ethanol plants have stopped receiving corn as ethanol movement is hindered and the vast amount of pork that is exported has stopped moving because of the current halt in eastern Canadian rail service.
Ontario farm organizations have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting help to find an immediate solution to protesters disrupting rail service.
Ontario indigenous groups are blockading railway lines in the Cornwall area in solidarity with protesters against the building of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia.
“We recognize and acknowledge that indigenous Canadians have fundamental issues that must be addressed in order to achieve full reconciliation,” the letter said. “However, it will be through thoughtful, honest and sincere dialogue that such outcome will be achieved.”
The letter says it will take weeks to recover from the damage already done by the rail disruption.
The letter was signed by 13 farm groups in crops, livestock, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.
