Tories Hint at Dismantling Wheat Board
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In a federal throne speech last week, the government promised to “ensure the freedom of choice for which Western barley farmers overwhelmingly voted” for Canada’s barley farmers, hinting that another attempt to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on barley might be in the works.
When asked if the government has plans to legislate the end the of Board’s monopoly, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz would only tell reporters to “stayed tuned.”
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“Well of course, I would have like to have done it last year or the year before when the result of the barley plebescite came down. We did face some court challenges, which we have subsequently won that give us the ability to move forward, so please stay tuned.”
“That’s the end game,” he said. “Of course it’s going to take legislation to do that. We look forward to tabling that.”
Ritz’s comments were in reference to a March 2007 plebiscite that showed support from voting farmers for “marketing choice” for barley, by 62 per cent for, and in which producers expressed interest in addressing the monopoly as well. But supporters of the Wheat Board say that the plebiscite was not very clear.
“Certainly Western Canadian farmers have waited a long time to move forward on barley since their plebiscite three years ago and they are now starting to ask for more than just barley, too. We will do a synopsis of that,” said the MP for Battlefords-Lloydminster.
Legislation was introduced in 2008 to open up barley sales, but fell off the radar when Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election that year.
Some members of parliament are not surprised by the idea of ending the monopoly. But there is concern among the ranks that the government made a false contention about barley producers voting to end it.
“They put a very convoluted, three-part multiple choice question on marketing philosophy (on the ballot) and it had nothing to do with the specific change that they had in mind,” said Regina MP, Ralph Goodale. “They cannot claim they have canvassed producers on this issue.”
The Tories and the Wheat Board have been at odds since the Conservative government took office in 2006.
