Canada Transportation Act

Marginal note:Submission for arbitration — confidential contract

• 169.31 (1) If a shipper and a railway company are unable to agree and enter into a contract under subsection 126(1) respecting the manner in which the railway company must fulfil its service obligations under section 113, the shipper may submit any of the following matters, in writing, to the Agency for arbitration:

  • (a) the operational terms that the railway company must comply with in respect of receiving, loading, carrying, unloading and delivering the traffic, including performance standards and communication protocols;

  • (b) the operational terms that the railway company must comply with if it fails to comply with an operational term described in paragraph (a);

  • (c) any operational term that the shipper must comply with that is related to an operational term described in paragraph (a) or (b);

  • (c.1) any amount to be paid by the company or the shipper in relation to a failure to comply with any operational term described in paragraphs (a) to (c);

  • (d) any service provided by the railway company incidental to transportation that is customary or usual in connection with the business of a railway company;

  • (e) the question of whether the railway company may apply a charge with respect to an operational term described in paragraph (a) or (b) or for a service described in paragraph (d); or

  • (f) the dispute resolution process related to the implementation of the arbitrator’s decision.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (1.1) The Agency may make regulations specifying what constitutes operational terms for the purposes of paragraphs (1)(a) to (c).

• Marginal note:Matter excluded from arbitration

  (2) The shipper is not entitled to submit to the Agency for arbitration a matter that

  • (a) is governed by a written agreement, including a confidential contract, to which the shipper and the railway company are parties; or

  • (b) is the subject of an order, other than an interim order, made under subsection 116(4).

• Marginal note:Excluded matter — traffic

  (3) The shipper is not entitled to submit to the Agency for arbitration a matter that is in respect of traffic that is the subject of

  • (a) a confidential contract between the shipper and the railway company that is in force immediately before the day on which this section comes into force;

  • (b) a tariff, or a contract, referred to in subsection 165(3);

  • (c) a long-haul interswitching order made under subsection 134(1); or

  • (d) an arbitrator’s decision made under section 169.37.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (4) For greater certainty, a rate for the movement of the traffic is not to be subject to arbitration.