The Canadian International Grains Institute has adopted a new governance structure to reflect recent changes in the grain industry.
CIGI officials announced July 4 that the institute will broaden its board of directors to allow for better representation from all parts of the industry.
CIGI’s board has historically comprised six members including one representative from Agriculture Canada, two from CWB, one from the Canadian Grain Commission and two directors at large, selected from the Canadian farming community.
The CWB recently vacated its seats at the CIGI board table, which farmers now occupy as well.
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Under the new governance structure, CIGI’s board will comprise six to nine directors and have more representation from the grain exporting and processing sectors.
Chief executive officer Earl Geddes said four organizations involved in exporting and processing have been asked to submit a list of nominees to be considered as CIGI board members: the Western Grain Elevators Association, the Canadian Grain and Oilseed Exporters Association, the Canadian National Millers Association and the Bakery Association of Canada.
“Right now, we’ve got four farmers already on the board so we felt where we were lacking the representation was on the exporters and processors side,” Geddes said.
“We’ve undergone a dramatic change at CIGI, and one that’s been primarily driven by changes in the grain industry…. We felt it was very appropriate … to have a governance structure that reflected the entire industry spectrum, from farmers to exporters to processors.”
Geddes said the organizations contacted have indicated that they will put forward a list of names for CIGI’s consideration.
The current board will select the new directors.
CIGI hopes a slate of directors can be in place when it holds its next board meeting in October.
“CIGI has turned a corner with this new governance structure,” said chair Murdoch MacKay.
“This is a really momentous occasion because it demonstrates how much CIGI is evolving and working with the industry on a much broader scale.”
Geddes said programming at CIGI has also changed significantly.
It used to be heavily influenced by CWB, the sole exporter of wheat and malting barley grown in the West.
Today, two program advisory committees review programs: one consisting of farmers and the other comprising primarily grain exporters.
“Those two advisory groups have been very effective in giving CIGI advise right from the grassroots of the industry,” Geddes said.
“Our programming today is much more deliberate and focused on promotion than it was … in the past.
CIGI is also doing more commercial work on a fee-for-service basis, he said.
