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In a letter to Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer, GGC President Jeff Nielsen said the latest delay means farmers likely won’t be able to take full advantage of the legislation this year.

“The time has come to put partisan politics and procedural tactics aside and for parliamentarians to do what is best for grain farmers by passing C-49,” Nielsen wrote.

Farmers, agriculture groups and the Saskatchewan government have all urged Ottawa to pass C-49, which they say will make it easier to get prairie crops to market.

Their support of the bill comes at the tail end of a major grain backlog, similar to the one estimated to have cost Western Canada $6.5 billion in 2013-14. The cost of this year’s backlog is not known but is thought to be significant.

The Liberals and Conservatives, meanwhile, pointed fingers at each other after the bill failed on Friday to clear the House — which does not sit next week — and move on to the Senate for approval and, then, royal assent.

At issue are two amendments to the bill which the Senate, in a rare move, sent back to the House after MPs accepted some but rejected most of the red chamber’s original proposed amendments.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he is “disappointed” the bill did not pass into law Friday, because the railways and other organizations need as much time as possible to prepare for and implement the new rules.

Garneau questioned why the Conservatives would for “partisan and political” reasons disagree with the government’s rejection of the two amendments, thereby forcing a vote that cannot take place for 11 days.