Canadian Pacific has commended the Government of Canada for recognising commercial principles are the key to improving the overall performance of Canada’s supply chain, but cautioned that additional regulation for relationships outside of commercial agreements is completely unwarranted.

“Isolating the rail sector will not produce the desired results,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Fred Green.

To offer an independent assessment of the state of regulation relating to Canadian railway service, the government commissioned third-party research which confirmed that the current regulatory regime for rail in Canada is robust and is superior to other frameworks reviewed.

“I recognize the government is addressing the weaknesses in the Panel’s findings by taking steps to encourage even further improvement across the entire supply chain,” said Green.

“While the report suggests negotiated commercial principles are preferred, I am concerned about the application of some of the recommendations involving regulation. The devil will be in the details. We will work with government to ensure equitable accountability is achieved throughout the supply chain and fosters further gains in service reliability.”

Canadian Pacific has signed numerous commercial agreements with customers, terminal operators and ports that will drive improvements in supply chain performance. The company has also implemented a number of new initiatives which focus on improving first and last mile performance, including yard reliability programs.