'Will start feeling the pressure': How the rail strike could impact Manitobans
CTV
More than 9,000 railway workers have been locked out Thursday by Canada's two largest rail companies – Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd – bringing freight traffic to a halt. As Canadians wait to hear what's next in this saga that is centred on union negotiations, many are wondering how this will impact their day-to-day lives.
More than 9,000 railway workers have been locked out Thursday by Canada's two largest rail companies – Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd – bringing freight traffic to a halt.
As Canadians wait to hear what's next in this saga that is centred on union negotiations, many are wondering how this will impact their day-to-day lives.
With the two companies shipping around $1 billion in goods every day, Chuck Davidson, the president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said this will have a drastic impact on the economy.
"In Manitoba specifically, if you're looking at agricultural products and we're in harvest mode right now, that product is not moving, effective today," said Davidson while speaking on CTV Morning Live.
"There's nowhere to store this product, there's no way to look at other options as well. You can't just throw this on a truck, that's not an option. Typically when you're looking at the loss of a train, it would make up around 300 trucks to replace that."
Davidson said this stoppage will impact manufacturing, critical minerals, and agriculture as all products will be at a standstill.
Davidson noted several products that Manitobans see on the grocery store shelves are brought in by rail, and if this is an extended problem, it could lead to a shortage of some items.
