Saskatchewan and Manitoba will go ahead with a producer plebiscite on the Canadian Wheat Board’s export monopoly if Ottawa doesn’t hold a vote as soon as possible, say the premiers of both provinces.
At a Saskatoon news conference Nov. 10, NDP premiers Lorne Calvert and Gary Doer said they would prefer if the federal government recognized wheat and barley producers’ right to determine their own future and hold an immediate vote.
However, they are prepared to allow all permit book holders to have their say through a non-binding mail-in provincial vote, regardless of how many acres the farmers seed.
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“We believe the future of the Canadian Wheat Board should be decided by farmers, not by politicians,” Doer said.
Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has said only barley producers will vote in January.
Calvert said farmers shouldn’t have to live with the uncertainty surrounding the wheat board right now. Neither should international customers, added Doer.
Although the federal government wouldn’t be obliged to recognize the result, Calvert pointed out there are 12 government MPs from Saskatchewan who might find their political future in doubt.
Doer said the principle of voting on whether the board should remain a single desk marketer or become one of many sellers unites farmers on all sides of the debate.
Stewart Wells, president of the National Farmers Union, issued a statement applauding the provinces’ decision and asked Ottawa to hold a plebiscite that offers a clear choice of maintaining the single desk or removing it.
In Alberta, NDP agriculture critic Ray Martin said farmers in his province should also have an opportunity to vote in a provincial non-binding plebiscite.
Calvert said he believed Ottawa would step forward and do the right thing.
“I’m anticipating the national government will do what the national government is obliged by law to do,” he said.
Calvert also said legal action is an option.
He said the loss of the board would cost western Canadian farmers more than $500 million. It would also threaten the future of inland terminals, producer car loading, short-line railways and the port of Churchill. The premiers estimated the cost of a mail-in vote at less than $250,000.
