WINNIPEG – If legal manoeuvres aimed at crumbling the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly are successful, prairie producers will be out $80 million, according to a top CWB executive.
Ward Weisensel, former corporate policy director now working on transportation issues for the board, testified in a case that unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the wheat board.
He told the court how being an arm of the federal government pays off for the wheat board and puts money in farmers’ pockets.
The board borrows money at federal government rates. When it sells grain to a country on credit, the difference between the interest rate charged to that country and the federal government borrowing rate can add up, Weisensel testified.
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That currently works out to about $80 million, deposited into the pool accounts and eventually passed on to farmers in the final payments.
It’s only one of the CWB’s advantages when it comes to competing in world grain markets, he said.
“Knowing you’re the only seller of this wheat means that no one can undercut you. That gets you value,” Weisensel said outside the courtroom.
“You’re sitting at the negotiating table and that person can’t say ‘I’ve got another offer from somebody else lower than yours.’ They know, and that is worth really big dollars.”
The board sells grain in a different manner than its competitors because it is marketing the entire Canadian grain inventory, he said.
“If you want Canadian product, you’ve got to come to us and you’ve got to pay our price.”
