Small grain shippers are alarmed that the man representing them in the process to implement the Estey report works for one of the world’s largest grain companies.
Out of the 61 representatives on Arthur Kroeger’s steering committee and working groups, only one spot has been reserved for small shippers and that spot is occupied by Monte Miller, a special crops merchant with Cargill.
“They’re representing small shippers? Well, it’s a joke,” said Martin Harder, who owns Delmar Commodities Ltd. in Winkler, Man.
The Canadian Wheat Board and the railways have ample representation on Kroeger’s crews, which have been assembled to implement Estey’s recommendations on grain handling and transportation reform.
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The Western Grain Elevators Association, for instance, holds 12 of the 61 spots.
Miller is not at the table representing Cargill; he is there on behalf of the Canadian Special Crops Association, which was the federal government’s choice of representative for small shippers. The puzzling thing about that choice is that the group does not see itself as a voice for small elevator companies.
“That’s the government’s design. We don’t consider ourselves necessarily a small shipper,” said Francois Catellier, executive director of the CSCA.
Catellier’s comment shocks Kroeger.
“That comes as something of a surprise to me. Nobody here was aware that they did not see themselves as a voice for small shippers,” said the man in charge of reforming the system.
“It would have been nice if they had said that to us when we asked them to pick a representative for small shippers, wouldn’t it?”
Catellier said the CSCA speaks on behalf of all of its 100 members, including small, medium and large exporters. But he said small shipper concerns would not be ignored.
“They can rest assured that we will represent their interest at the table.”
He added that choosing Miller as the CSCA voice at the Kroeger table is not a problem for any of the small shippers that are members of their organization.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case for at least one member.
“Cargill looks after their own interest, not after anyone else,” said Grant Fehr, who’s in charge of purchasing for Keystone Grain Ltd., a Winkler, Man., grain elevator.
“It’s always a concern when the government is basing a lot of their decisions based upon large corporations who have a distinct special interest.”
Other CSCA members are confident Miller will represent them well at the table.
“Even though he works for a large company, he still understands the infrastructure of shipping special crops,” said Brian Johnson, partner of S.S. Johnson Seeds Ltd., in Arborg, Man.
Johnson is happy to have at least one voice representing his interests at the Kroeger table. But there are some small grain companies on the Prairies not associated with the CSCA who feel they have been left out of the process because they are deemed irrelevant.
“The industry, whether it’s the railways or all the line companies, are considering small shippers as a has-been,” said Harder.
