Keystone Agricultural Producers has always supported changes to the Canadian Wheat Board, changes which make the board more responsive and effective, changes which give more control to producers while still retaining the principle of single-desk selling.
We believe Bill C-4 is the first step down that path. It is enabling legislation that allows such changes to be made and, significantly, the first opportunity for change in over 60 years.
Under Bill C-4, producers will have more control over the Canadian Wheat Board through a clear two-thirds majority of representation on the Board of Directors, with 10 of the 15 directors elected by producers. …
Read Also
Kochia has become a significant problem for Prairie farmers
As you travel through southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, particularly in areas challenged by dry growing conditions, the magnitude of the kochia problem is easy to see.
In Bill C-4, directors and officers are also held accountable to producers … This language ensures that directors and officers both act honestly and in good faith, exercise care, diligence and skill and comply with the Act, the regulations and by-laws of the Canadian Wheat Board. It is important to note that according to Section 3.05 of the bill, the producer-controlled Board of Directors are the ones who are clearly given the option to “make by-laws respecting the administration and management of the Corporation.” Furthermore, through the right of producer representatives to make by-laws, there is the option of calling for periodic reviews of the president’s performance and determining the manner in which the board may recommend the removal of the appointed president.
Through Subsection 3.01 (1) of Bill C-4, “the Board of Directors shall direct and manage the business and affairs of the CWB and is for those purposes vested with all the powers of the CWB.” This gives producers full control of the Canadian Wheat Board in every respect, including the flexibility to be innovative in the application of new marketing tools.
There has been a lot of controversy over the “inclusion clause” [Section 47.1] in Bill C-4. First, I would like to point out that the legislation also has an “exclusion clause” [Subsection 45 (2)] which allows any kind, type, class grade of wheat or barley to be removed, in whole or in part, or generally, or for any period of time, from the jurisdiction of the CWB.
I would also like to point out that in the bill neither the government nor the Canadian Wheat Board can trigger the inclusion of any grain into the CWB’s jurisdiction. Without Bill C-4, inclusion is as quick and effortless as a stroke of the Minister’s pen.
Subsection 47.1 (2) limits the regulation of “inclusion” (more appropriately referred to as extension), making it impossible for canola, for example, to be included in the CWB without a written request from the producer association that represents the grain throughout the designated area, which in this example would be the Canadian Canola Growers’ Association. Due to the fact that this producer association belongs to the Coalition Against C-4, it seems likely that pigs will be flying before canola is requested to be included under the CWB’s jurisdiction under Bill C-4.
The following are the full limitations to the “inclusion clause”:
1. A written request is sent to the Minister by a producer association that represents the producers of the grain throughout the designated area. (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and the Peace River District of British Columbia).
2. The CWB Board of Directors recommends the request.
3. A vote in favor of the request by the producers of the grain must be held in a manner determined by the Minister after consultation with the Board of Directors.
There is a great deal of rhetoric that surrounds and clouds this issue. In light of the fact that Senate hearings are now being held in the Prairie Provinces, I urge all producers to make their views known based on careful and rational review of the legislation itself.
Copies of Bill C-4 can be obtained by phoning 1-800-410-7104. The bill is also available on the internet at http://aceis.agr.ca/goodale/grain/ Members of Keystone Agricultural Producers can obtain a copy of the legislation by phoning KAP at (204) 697-1140.
It is time to get on with the process of enabling the Wheat Board to evolve into a more effective and accountable marketing tool for Western Canadian producers.
– Donald R. Dewar,
President, Keystone
Agricultural Producers,
Winnipeg, Man.
