The federal Conservative government plans to introduce amendments to the Canada Grain Act in the next parliamentary session that will reform the Canadian Grain Commission and revamp many of the regulations that govern the prairie grain industry, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said last week.
The House of Commons agriculture committee produced a unanimous report last year calling for substantial changes to the grain regulatory system that includes ending the use of kernel visual distinguishability as a criterion for varietal registration and revamping the governance structure of the Canadian Grain Commission to make it more modern and businesslike.
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Ritz was chair of the committee when that report was written.
“We have the grains act issue to deal with,” Ritz said at a Sept. 20 news conference in Saskatchewan when asked about his plans for the next session of Parliament slated to begin Oct. 16 with a speech from the throne.
“That will be on my agenda.”
However, he would not speculate on whether the government agenda will include another attempt to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on barley sales.
The throne speech setting out the general government agenda is prepared in the prime minister’s office.
“You’ll have to wait to see the throne speech,” Ritz said.
Opposition MPs have urged the government to set the CWB issue aside, considering that it lost a court case on the question of whether it could end the monopoly by regulation and is unlikely to win majority parliamentary agreement to amend the CWB Act.
However, prime minister Stephen Harper has told anti-monopoly advocates that the government will continue to pursue the issue and the monopoly will be ended one way or the other.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is urging the federal government to use the next session of Parliament to support a “buy Canadian” policy for agricultural products and affirm its willingness to allow provinces to develop region-specific companion programs that are supported with federal funding.
The CFA also wants the government to announce in its next budget a policy that will offer tax breaks for people who invest in co-operatives.
“This is not an exhaustive list of priorities but we believe they are initiatives the government should pursue,” CFA president Bob Friesen said.
A key issue, he added, is that the government should change the regulations on how products can be designated “product of Canada.”
He said the CFA also would like government funding to lead an industry effort to increase the ability of farmers to brand and market their produce locally.
