In a bid to make sure that its voice is heard in Ottawa, the Canadian Wheat Board has hired its first ever full-time lobbyist.
Avis Gray, who has had a long career in Manitoba politics and most recently served as co-chair of CWB minister Reg Alcock’s successful re-election campaign, will become the board’s senior adviser for government relations Sept. 1.
“We just want to make sure we’re as effective as we can be in making sure we’re communicating our positions on issues both federally and provincially, and making sure there is understanding from the other side,” said CWB chief executive officer Adrian Measner.
Read Also
Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels
Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
Gray will be based in Winnipeg but is expected to spend much of her time in Ottawa putting forward the board’s views to politicians and bureaucrats and also ensuring that the board is well-informed on government plans and programs that will affect the marketing agency.
She will also be responsible for maintaining relations with provincial and municipal governments as the need arises.
Murray Fulton, an agricultural economist at the University of Saskatchewan, said it makes good business sense for the board to hire a lobbyist.
“This is a pretty common procedure among big organizations,” he said.
Fulton said the hiring reflects the fact that the restructured CWB is no longer an arm of government, taking direction from or reporting directly to it.
“I think this is a direct consequence of the board now having a producer-elected board and independent directors,” he said. “This signals that they see themselves as much more outside of government than inside.”
CWB chair Ken Ritter said that while 10 years ago there was a direct pipeline from the government-appointed CWB commissioners to the federal minister responsible for the board, that is no longer true.
Now the board is another grain industry lobby group vying with railways, grain companies and farm organizations for the time and attention of decision-makers, he said.
While board officials have had to make special trips to Ottawa to deal with issues of concern, many of those other groups had permanent lobbyists in the nation’s capital.
“It’s been very difficult to counter the kinds of activity that they’re capable of mustering with our one-off trips,” said Ritter.
