Re: Avery Sahl’s letter to the editor in the July 7 issue ofThe Western Producer.
In his letter Mr. Sahl states that in the 1960s, the people of China were in a state of starvation and the Canadian Wheat Board came to the rescue, with the help of John Diefenbaker and the diplomacy of his PC government. I believe this occurred about 1961.
I don’t dispute Mr. Sahl’s statement that says that John Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservative government of the 1960s was somewhat different than the Conservative government we now have in power. I do, however, fail to understand how the export policies and practices of a circa 1960s CWB could be compared to the modern grain markets of 2011.
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Correct me if I’m wrong. China now grows about four times as much wheat as Canada.
While we still export a considerable amount of wheat to that country, how long will it take before the tide turns, and we begin to compete with them for export markets, along with Russia, India and other countries that once relied on us to avoid starvation? I do believe that is somewhat different than what was happening in 1961. Did the CWB keep up with the trends? Only time will tell.
John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
