Infrastructure in Canada

As an Account Exec for a total logistics firm in Mississauga, Ontario I get complaints all the time from customers as to the delays on their import shipments.

This complaint is one of the most frustrating for me as we are bound in place by the privatized railways, slow action of the minitry of transport and the lack of pressure from the steamship lines.

One of my only responses to the customers are to write a letter to their local MP in the hopes that if they receive enough complaints and letters that they will make a difference.

Let me ask you: How does such a prominent country with so much to offer have such a poor system of infrastructure that we can be compared to a third world country?

In 1995 CN Railways were privatized and in 2008 made market capitalization of 21 billion usd. How can a company make that much money from all the imports our industries provide and not do something about helping their customers.

It is hard enough for companies to import into Canada or start an importing business in Canada, without having to deal with delays and added storage charges (CN only offers one day free time including weekends and holidays) that brings more pressure for offloading containers etc.

I would hope that the Ministry of Transport would look to step in at some point to improve on the state of our infrastruture to make it easier on industries to import and provide for our communities through job creation etc.

Maybe one day, when its really too late the government will realize how important this issue is and will start putting some pressure on the parties that can make the difference for all Canadians.

Sarah C. Barnes