Illegal blockades of rail lines in Canada are costing Canadian farmers money and damaging the economy.

That according to Foothills MP and the Conservatives Agriculture Critic John Barlow.

He says local producers are feeling the pinch already.

"You know I had a producer in my office in High River this week, almost in tears because he's so frustrated. You know the carbon tax and now he can't ship his grain because there's no trains."

Barlow says the blockades are crippling the economy and hurting farmers.

"It's costing them $40 to $50 million every time a train doesn't move and that's just one commodity. There's 400,000 tonnes of grain that they're waiting for to be delivered in Prince Rupert. Another 40 ships in Vancouver that are waiting. You know, the moorage costs are adding up. You know this is worse than the grain backlog we had in 2018 and maybe even worse than the one we had in 2013."

Barlow, along with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer are calling on Ottawa to get the RCMP to enforce court injunctions to end the blockades.

Federal Transportation Minister, Marc Garneau, says he's confident talks can end the blockades, which are protesting an LNG pipeline being built across native land in B.C.

 

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