OTTAWA – While promoters of radical change to the Canadian Wheat Board have been preaching their cause and getting attention in recent months, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale says he has been hearing a different message from the pews.
Goodale said that most “ordinary” farmers he has talked to support the board’s present powers and structure, although they argue some smaller changes might be necessary.
“It’s been an interesting experience over the past several months,” said the minister, who has ordered a review of the wheat board, but has also been increasingly supportive of the board in public comments.
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“The Reform party and the advocates of very dramatic and rapid change argue that they represent a groundswell of farmer opinion that is in the majority. From other sources, informally, individually … a lot of people have been at some considerable pains to make the point to me that there can certainly be improvements achieved, but be very careful about undermining or irretrievably changing an institution that has historically performed very, very well in the interests of prairie farmers.”
Goodale said farmers tell him they want better accountability from the wheat board and better communications. They do not want radical change, dual marketing or a weakening of the board, he said.
Goodale is on the verge of appointing a group of westerners to consult the industry on such issues as whether the board’s export monopoly should be retained and whether the present system of government-appointed commissioners is appropriate.
By putting his increasingly-supportive view on the record, the minister has put the onus on those who want change to prove that it would be better.
