Saskatchewan’s Highways Minister says with the $8 million a day in goods not moving out of the country then this is the perfect time to figure out how the supply chain office the Government of Canada is setting up is involved, and how the federal government can take a more direct role in getting the dispute resolved.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada went on strike Canada Day. Jeremy Cockerill says Vancouver is the country’s busiest port and St. Rupert he believes is second busiest ahead of Montreal, so the country’s two busiest ports are closed to a standstill for 10 days which is a big problem for Saskatchewan, absolutely, as well the whole country and North America.

After supply chain issues because of COVID-19 and its ensuing fallout, the Saskatchewan government says the prairie provinces, who supply most of the goods exported through west coast ports impacted by the longshoreman strike, need to have a larger voice in terms of governance.

Cockerill says the major change the federal government has offered is the creation of a supply chain office for which he says they still don’t know the mandate or the scope.  He says they have heard, anecdotally, that inland Transmodal facilities are already stacking up in terms of containers.