OAK BLUFF, Man. – Reluctant and red-faced, Henry Penner looked like he would choke on his words.
But after some cajoling from the group of farmers he sat with, this United Grain Growers director known for his strong open-market views spit them out: “All grain should be under the wheat board.”
Penner was not reporting his own opinion, but was relaying the views of his table to the Western Grain Marketing Panel meeting held here last week.
Like other meetings held across the Prairies, farmers here focused on what they love and hate about the Canadian Wheat Board. Some groups reported unanimous support for the board, while others said divided opinions led to murky philosophical debates.
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“There may be a little bit more pro-board sentiment in the Manitoba meetings than there is in the Alberta meetings,” said Owen McAuley, a Manitoba farmer who sits on the federally appointed panel designed to gather farmers’ opinions on the future of the country’s grain marketing system.
“Although there are people with polarized views, the majority of people seem to think … there is some room for consensus. It’s just, where is it?” said McAuley.
Basil McCallister of Portage la Prairie said his table agreed on some important points. “I think everybody realizes there has to be change made and the wheat board has been a little slow in changing.”
That sentiment was echoed by many farmers on both sides of the marketing debate.
Curtis Sims, a member of Farmers for Justice, a coalition set up to fight the wheat board’s sales monopoly, agreed.
Changes wanted
“There is a certain amount of common ground in that even most ardent wheat board supporters are pretty fed up with some of the things the board is doing and want some pretty significant change in the board and how it operates.”
But Brad Mroz believes compromise would lead to a dual market, which he said will eliminate the wheat board. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too,” the Beausejour farmer said. “It’s one way or the other.”
Mroz said the panel should not try to find consensus, but should unreservedly support the Canadian Wheat Board.
Carol Masse of Fannystelle said people at her table enjoyed discussing their divergent views. She said she’s a strong supporter of single-agency marketing, but learned some things from an open market advocate she sat with.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of people claiming that farmers think this or that,” she observed.
“When you get farmers together like this, you get a more accurate view of really what it is they’re thinking.”
