After readings in the Canadian House of Commons of back-to-work legislation that would end the strike against the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the bill would proceed to the Senate, which receives the bill after the third reading.

The final step is the Governor-General’s application for Royal Assent.  The bill would go into force 12 hours after Royal Assent is given.

If, as anticipated, the Royal Assent was given by 6:00 p.m. on May 30, 2012, Canadian Pacific’s Canadian operations could resume by 6:00 a.m. May 31, 2012, according to Canadian Pacific (CP).

“Labour minister Lisa Raitt stated [Monday] that she would like to see CP back in operation by this Thursday,” said a letter issued by CP.

“CP’s operations group is prepared to activate the Canadian start up plan as soon as notification of Royal Assent is given with crews being called for trains as the bill becomes law, twelve hours after Royal Assent,” said CP.

The railroad continued, “CP’s start up plan has been developed to ensure that Canadian operations commence in a safe manner, making certain that fluidity and balance returns to the entire Network as soon as possible, to the benefit of all of our customers.”

The railroad notedan embargo application remains in effect for shipments routing to and from CP Canadian locations. CP said it intended to rescind this application as soon as passage of the legislation is confirmed.

The embargo in effect applies to all shipments originating in Canada which are billed to any U.S. destinations. It also covers shipments originating in the U.S. which are billed to a Canadian destination.

Hong-Kong based OOCL was advising its customers that CP had declared Force Majeure, effective May 23^rd, which had the effect of “stopping the clock” on all storage calculations. “No charges will be assessed until operations resume,” said the ocean carrier.

OOCL was reporting moderate too extensive delays in Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton. Vancouver, it said, was blocked. Truck service were possible between Montreal and Toronto, at last report, but intermodal and cross-border cargo was awaiting resumption of CP operations