Saskatchewan farm groups heard from the Executive Vice President of CN Rail yesterday.

Sean Finn was in Regina to talk about the current grain backlog situation, hiring more crews and their commitment going forward:

"We very much view or role that if our customers win, the farmers in Canada win, and Canada wins," he said. "We want to make sure that we're part of the solution and not a problem. The message today is have everybody in Saskatchewan realize that we are very committed to this plan and more importantly we're committed to make sure that Saskatchewan is successful in moving its goods to market because when they do so, we become successful also being part of the solution and not the problem."

He says CN has been committed to moving through the grain backlog and in taking steps going forward.

"In the case of Western Canada we're going to invest $250 million to build resiliency just in Western Canada between the corridor of Edmonton to Winnipeg," he said. "More importantly, as we enter into a grain season you got to make sure you have enough locomotives for the winter that's coming to us and also for the size of the grain crop. You have to make sure your track is in good shape to make sure you're able to move the goods. Also, you need some excess capacity when it comes to crews, and we were caught last fall short on crew.

He says they are looking to hire more staff about 375 people in the next quarter with 130 being based in Saskatchewan.

Finn notes grain is a very important commodity for CN accounting for about 10% of their revenue whereas crude is about 1%.