Rail Update
Following from yesterday’s AAR weekly update, CN President, JJ Ruest is quoted in today’s Financial Post as expecting the traffic to generally deteriorate as much of the world economy closes down. He reports that there are several areas of strength: grain, coal exports and domestic containers.  The Financial Post article can be found at
https://business.financialpost.com/transportation/rail/may-will-be-worse-cn-rail-ceo-says-canada-u-s-just-starting-to-feel-impact-of-coronavirus

Marine Update
The Port of Halifax was reporting high winds earlier today that were causing a temporary delay to pilot service, but otherwise the port, terminals, rail and trucking are all operating normally.

There have been questions raised about ships destined for Canada that have crew members showing symptoms of COVID-19, especially since the auto carrier Siem Cicero was refused permission to dock in Halifax.

We understand that any ship with suspected COVID-19 crew on board will be managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on a case by case basis.  Apparently, the decision as to whether or not to prevent a suspect ship from calling a Canadian port would be based on a number of factors, including whether the size and configuration of the ship is such that a sick crew member could be effectively isolated while regular operations continue to take place. However, PHAC does not share the specific elements that guide their decision making in any particular case.

Trucking
Following from the decisions by the Quebec and Manitoba governments to provide limited exemptions from the seasonal weight restrictions due to spring thaw, our colleagues at the Private Motor Truck Council (PMTC)  have requested that Ontario provide comparable relief.  FMA had previously raised this issue with PMTC and will be writing to the Ontario authorities supporting this request.

The Federal government has issued a safety guidance document to protect commercial drivers and limit the spread of COVID-19.  The document can be found at the following link.
https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/federal-safety-guidance-protect-drivers-limit-spread-covid-19-commercial-vehicle-operations.html

Also today, the federal government announced that it has come to an agreement with Amazon Canada to manage the distribution of  emergency equipment to all provinces and territories.

NAFTA II
The Deputy Prime Minister announced today that the Canadian ratification process of NAFTA II has been completed and the Mexico and the U.S. have now been notified.  The Deputy Prime Minister’s statement can be found at the following link.
https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2020/04/03/statement-deputy-prime-minister-canadas-ratification-new-nafta

Updates Now on the Website
All the COVID-19 updates that FMA has issued are now uploaded to the website and there is a link to them on the home page at www.fma-agf.ca .
  
Our focus in the FMA updates continues be on supply-chain impacts of COVID-19. If members have questions where FMA may be able to help, please send an email with your request, and we are pleased that a number of members have reached out to us.

Information from members will be useful in our continuing outreach to members and in our communications with the government and with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. As always, all individual company information will be kept confidential.