Edmonton Journal ePaper

Clearing ports, more staff key to solving supply chain woes: report

A federal task force says Canada's transportation supply chain is approaching its “breaking point” and urgent action from both government and industry is needed to keep goods flowing.

The 21 recommendations in the final report released Thursday by the National Supply Chain Task Force are intended to address the delays and economic pressure that have plagued the supply chain over the last two and a half years.

Priority items include easing congestion at ports and addressing labour shortages as well as working to protect border crossings and other key points from disruption.

The report prioritizes longterm recommendations, including the creation of a federal central supply chain office to oversee any changes and unify the federal government's positions across the divisions.

At a press conference Thursday, Jean Gattuso, co-chairman of the National Supply Chain Task Force, said addressing labour shortages and the digitization of the transportation supply chain sector, are key to providing better insight on Canada's supply chain as a whole.

Labour shortages have affected all sectors of the economy but has disrupted the transportation sector especially, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a phone interview.

Trucking in particular has faced pressure from labour shortages. It's responsible for 50 per cent of trade and is currently missing the equivalent of 25,000 drivers, Gattuso said.

“We are going to try to attract people to Canada as immigrants, and also, we recommend that we do more to improve domestic take-up of workers,” said Louise Yako, co-chairwoman of the National Supply Chain Task Force.

Alghabra hasn't committed to any of the report's recommendations but says he plans to travel next week to talk about the plan and said he will announce immediate measures.

He said the government has policies already in the process to address some supply chain issues, including a policy that will require large rail companies to be more transparent in their operations and provide more clarity on their performance to the agricultural sector.

He said he plans to introduce legislation this year to modernize the governmental structure of ports, a recommendation also proposed by the task force.

FP EDMONTON

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2022-10-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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