Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. That has to be the most overused cliche of the current grain marketing debate. Agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has been heard to use the expression on several occasions, and it was floating around ad nauseam at last week’s save-the-wheat-board rally in Rosetown.
Based on remarks by no less a personage than the prime minister himself, it would appear that the baby is safe.
In a media scrum in Regina last Sunday, ChrŽtien said “the wheat board is here to stay, no doubt about it.”
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Last week, when some 1,700 farmers gathered in Rosetown, the message to Goodale and the government was clear: Save the Canadian Wheat Board.
Later, I had the opportunity to ask Goodale whether the Prime Minister had usurped his eventual announcement on the future of grain marketing.
Uncharacteristically, he gave me that one-word answer: “No.” He paused, then was moved to continue: “There are lots of details to be worked out, but the bottom line is, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”
That message, apparently, has been heard. The weakness of the rally is that it had a very narrow focus.
At no time at the Rosetown rally were the details of the grain marketing panel recommendations discussed in detail with an eye to understanding what they might mean for the future of the wheat board and orderly marketing.
Farmers must have an understanding of those recommendations and their long-term effect on the industry in order to be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not the changes would be to their, and the board’s, advantage.
Let us be clear – the board will continue to exist, but not necessarily as it exists at this moment. That can be a good or a bad thing, but changes will be made.
The initial battle won, farmers must move on to the next. They must consider how much change they can live with and what direction that change should take.
Several times at the Rosetown rally, the cry came out, “write your letters to Goodale.” It is in farmers’ interests to take this direction to heart.
In writing, however, it is not enough to express support for the board.
The minister must also be made aware how much change to the board the industry will accept.
It is one thing to save the baby. It is quite another to decide how to dispose of the bath water.
