CAMROSE, Alta. – The Alberta government has launched legal action over the “unfairness” of the Canadian Wheat Board’s delivery contract program, said the province’s deputy minister of agriculture.
“We hope we can create or cause to create contract programs that are fair to farmers,” said Doug Radke, hours after filing documents in the Federal Court of Canada Monday to start the action.
Radke said the province launched the case because it has concerns about how the board administers its contract program. He also cited the federal government’s apparent unwillingness to implement recommendations from the Western Grain Marketing Panel report released earlier this month.
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Under the contract program, the wheat board asks farmers to specify how much grain they will supply to the board. Radke said the board’s partial cancellation of the barley C contract earlier this winter left some farmers uncertain about marketing their grain through the board.
Bob Roehle, head of corporate communications at the wheat board, said there are misunderstandings over how the contract program works.
Alberta Agriculture minister Walter Paszkowski said when federal minister of agriculture Ralph Goodale announced he would ask farmers for their opinion of the panel report instead of immediately implementing the recommendations, it left Alberta no choice but to proceed with the court challenge.
“I don’t think we had any option than the option we’re taking,” said Paszkowski.
The provincial government has also announced a program that will allow farmers to sell grain through the provincial government to the United States.
However, the Alberta Marketing Choice Program won’t be implemented until the Alberta Court of Appeal clarifies the province’s interpretation of the Canadian Wheat Board Act. The Alberta government believes it does not need a licence to export grain and has asked the court to clarify the act.
By acting as broker, the provincial government would buy grain from Alberta farmers at current U.S. market prices. Once the grain was across the border, it would sell the grain back to the farmers at the same price plus administration costs.
Roehle said he doesn’t believe the province can bypass the wheat board and sell to the U.S. without a permit.
“Our understanding is that nobody is above the law, not even the provincial government,” he said.
Radke doesn’t expect the program will be implemented for at least six months. If the court rules the provincial government can bypass the board, Radke predicted most farmers who voted for a more open market in last fall’s plebiscite will take advantage of the program.
“Once the fear of prosecution and imprisonment is removed we’ll see a lot of entrepreneurs,” said Radke.
