The newest director of the Canadian Wheat Board is keeping his thoughts about his new job to himself.
David Carefoot, appointed to a three-year term by CWB minister Gerry Ritz May 9 to fill a vacancy on the board, last week turned down several requests from The Western Producer for an interview.
A board spokesperson said the newly appointed director doesn’t feel it is useful for a newly appointed board member to talk publicly about issues facing the grain marketing agency.
The spokesperson said Carefoot wants to keep his personal views to himself and plans to align himself with official positions adopted by the board of directors as a whole.
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Carefoot brings to the board an expertise in financial matters. Since 1996 he has held senior financial positions with United Grain Growers, Agricore United and Viterra. He has a degree in commerce from the University of Manitoba and is a chartered accountant.
CWB chair Larry Hill said someone with those skills will be a welcome addition to the board of directors, especially as the board continues to develop new pricing programs.
“We identified to the minister that one of the areas where we needed to strengthen our oversight was in finances,” he said. “I think his experience will be a valuable asset for the board.”
Carefoot’s appointment didn’t generate the same strong reaction from grain industry and farm groups as did the 2006 appointments of Ken Motiuk, Bruce Johnson and Glenn Findlay.
Those three had all staked out public positions opposing the CWB’s single desk and supporting the government’s plan to bring in an open market. Carefoot has never done so.
“The others were very vocal opponents of single desk marketing, and that’s clearly why they were put there,” said Terry Pugh, executive director of the National Farmers Union, which was highly critical of those appointments.
That isn’t the case with Carefoot, although Pugh said he doesn’t think he would have been appointed by Ritz unless he supported government policy.
“Clearly he would have been asked about his views on the single desk and it’s safe to say he passed muster, so we can assume he’s for the open market.”
That was confirmed by Blair Rutter, executive director of the pro-open market Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association and a former colleague of Carefoot’s at UGG and AU.
“He’s never spoken publicly and has kept his opinions to himself, but I know he shares our views, no question,” Rutter said.
If that’s the case, the 15-member board of directors would remain sharply divided on the single desk issue, with eight in support (all elected) and six opposed (two elected, four appointed). Chief executive officer Ian White is the other director.
One thing everyone agrees on is that Carefoot will bring some much-needed financial expertise to the board table.
Brian Hayward, former chief executive officer of UGG and AU, said Carefoot has exceptional skills in that area.
“My impression is the CWB board has not had a lot of depth in terms of financial skills, investment banking, financial markets, international trade finance and so on,” he said.
“David is extremely deep on that front. He has high integrity, he’s smart and he’s highly regarded in the financial community.”
If the wheat board is ever put in a position of having to operate as a commercial company, said Hayward, Carefoot’s experience will be invaluable.
Rutter echoed those sentiments, saying Carefoot will serve the board and farmers well.
“Ensuring good financial risk management measures are in place will be one of his strengths,” he said.
Pugh said that while Carefoot undoubtedly has great final acumen, his background with grain companies, as opposed to farmers, may not be a good thing.
Hayward expects Carefoot will assess CWB policies and programs strictly from a business perspective.
“I’ve known David for probably 15 years and I’ve never heard him talk about business issues in a political way.”
Carefoot fills a vacancy created by the departure of William Cheuk, a Vancouver businessman, whose three-year term expired.
