The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association is pleased that three of its major recommendations were incorporated in the final report tabled earlier this year of a review of Canada’s Transportation Act. “These are very exciting days for us,” said Ruth Snowden, CIFFA’s Executive Director. “The voice of the freight forwarder is being recognized as a legitimate sound judgement voice in Ottawa.”
CIFFA’s recommendations included a call for a national intermodal transportation strategy that includes an integrated information system or “dashboard” for data; a human capital investment strategy; and the strategic positioning of Canada as a cargo transit hub. The 283-page report itself doesn’t credit CIFFA explicitly other than to reference one sentence from the association’s 13-page submission to the review: “While agriculture and grain are critical to Canada’s trade, intermodal inbound and outbound movements of manufactured goods are also critical to Canada’s long-term economic well-being.” Rather, the report — submitted to Transportation Minister Marc Garneau in February by review committee chairman David Emerson, a former Conservative and Liberal cabinet minister — noted “a strong consensus” and “broad agreement” among the dozens of submissions to the review on what direction Canada should take in global trade. Ms. Snowden said CIFFA’s incoming President, Gary Vince, met with Mr. Garneau at a 15-member invitation-only roundtable in late May to express the association’s thoughts on the Committee’s recommendations.