Everybody knows the Conservatives hate the Canadian Wheat Board. It starts with Stephen Harper and goes all of the way down the line to every prairie MP that was elected in May.
So, it’s no surprise to hear they want to get rid of the single desk, and that they want to do it as soon as their friends in the grain industry will let them.
Still, it’s hard to stomach some of the comments that come out of Gerry Ritz’s mouth, when he responds to those who won’t just stand by while the government steamrolls the board out of existence.
Read Also
Downturn in grain farm economics threatens to be long term
We might look back at this fall as the turning point in grain farm economics — the point where making money became really difficult.
All this added investment and innovation that he’s talking about when the single desk is gone – where’s it going to come from and who is it going to benefit? I know buyers won’t be paying any more for our grain when there are 50,000 of us selling wheat and barley on our own instead of through the board.
And since when is it “excessive fear mongering” to want producers to have our say?
Ritz is the one who’s afraid: afraid of the way grain producers would vote if we were asked a clear question on how we want our grain to be sold, on the open market or through the single desk.
Any delays caused by a producer vote would do a lot less to damage to the board’s “competitiveness,” as if Ritz really cared about that, than the Harper government’s pig-headed determination to have its way.
Gerald Nedjelski,Kelvington, Sask.
