OTTAWA – The federal government has named five grain industry and grain trade representatives to the Canada-U.S. “blue-ribbon commission” set up to investigate the two nations’ grain support and marketing systems.
Most, but not all, are on record as supporting continuation of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on sales into the American market.
Ottawa trade consultant and former federal grains bureaucrat Bill Miner will be the Canadian co-chair, despite having recently suggested the board monopoly on sales south could not last. “I personally doubt that a single desk monopoly seller can operate for long within a free trade area,” he said after a September appearance before a Commons committee.
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Canadian members
Other Canadian members are: former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool chief executive officer Milt Fair, former Alberta Wheat Pool president Doug Livingstone, Canada Malting Co. Ltd. president Jonathan Bamberger and University of Manitoba professor emeritus Clay Gilson.
Most are on record as supporters of the board export monopoly.
Livingstone and Bamberger were both members of a 1990 wheat board review panel which recommended it keep its monopoly control on sales south. At the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Fair was a strong board supporter.
American members
The American members of the commission are: Allen Anderson, senior vice-president of Harvest States Cooperatives of St. Paul, Minn.; North Dakota Farmers Union president Alan Bergman; flour mill president Anthony Flagg from Pendleton, Ore.; Herbert Karst from Sunburst, Mont., a board member of the national Barley Growers Association; and Jim Miller from Garfield, Wash., past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers.
The committee of 10 “experts” is to prepare by next June recommendations on how to avoid trade disputes between the two countries.
The Americans will use the study to shine the light on the “sins” of the Canadian Wheat Board.
Monday, Judy Olson, president of the U.S. National Association of Wheat Growers, said that by concentrating on the wheat board monopoly, the commission could provide “a road map for real reform.”
Canadian agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has said the group will be able to shine the light on the “evils” of the U.S. system of domestic and export grain subsidies.
