Agriculture ministers from three of the four western Canadian provinces have thrown their support behind Ottawa’s plan to end single desk grain marketing.
Don McRae of British Columbia, Jack Hayden of Alberta and Bob Bjornerud of Saskatchewan confirmed their support for marketing choice at a meeting of provincial, federal and territorial agriculture ministers in Saint Andrews, N.B., last week.
Manitoba is the only western province opposed to the idea.
Manitoba agriculture minister Stan Struthers said last week that his province will continue to voice its opposition to federal plans aimed at ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing monopoly without a farmer vote.
Struthers reiterated that the future of the CWB is a matter for farmers to decide, not politicians.
Manitoba also supports a CWB plan to hold a producer plebiscite on the future of the single desk.
“We are the only province standing up for the farmers’ right to vote,” Struthers told the Winnipeg Free Press last week.
Hayden encouraged all parties to move forward and work constructively to facilitate the transition to an open market.
“It’s vital that Alberta’s grain producers are able to market their product to anyone they choose,” Hayden said.
