SASKATOON – Alberta Liberal senator Joyce Fairbairn could not contain her smile.
After almost three days of public hearings during which critics of the government’s reform plans for the Canadian Wheat Board outnumbered supporters almost three to one, Merv Lloyd and Marvin White were clear in their support.
Lloyd and White, pro-board activists who farm west of Rosetown, Sask., argued that Bill C-4 is what the wheat board needs to put it under farmer control. Delaying passage is giving the critics time to “rip it apart.”
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And while many critical witnesses had predicted that part-time elected farmer directors would be little more than puppets for the government-appointed full-time board president, Lloyd disagreed.
“You can be sure if you people put the process in place, farmers will elect the right kind of people to the board,” he told senators.
Fairbairn welcomed the support after having endured so much rain on the government’s wheat board parade.
“Marv is a breath of fresh air,” she enthused. “To hear Marv talk, the people who will be elected will speak for farmers. Good on you, Marv.”
It was one of a handful of comforting moments for Liberal senators on the committee last week.
Most of the week featured witnesses who demanded that the bill be withdrawn, some because it would preserve the wheat board monopoly and others because it would set in motion changes that would undermine the board.
Most organic producers appearing asked to be allowed to market outside the board, although organic crusader Elmer Laird offered a lighter moment when, in giving each senator a loaf of bread made with organic wheat said, “I have to warn you about addiction.”
Critics insisted the Senate delete the clause that would allow farmers to vote new grains under board jurisdiction.
Anti-board activist Russell Larson from Outlook, Sask., referred senators to history: “53 years after Canadian soldiers came home from a war fought to free others, I have less freedom to market my grain than my grandfather did.”
Some said continuation of the board monopoly might drive them to jail, or out of the country.
Herb Axten, who farms near the Canada-U.S. border, showed up in Regina to say the wheat board costs his farm $100,000 yearly because he cannot sell into the American market. He said he is considering moving to Montana.
“Why shouldn’t good, hard-working farmers be able to make a decent living in their own country?” he asked.
For Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall, that appeared to be the wrong question.
He said there is no doubt the majority lies with the board and while senators should listen to the dissidents, they also should remember that the board monopoly makes money for the vast majority of farmers.
Do the right thing
Elections to the board would give monopoly opponents the ability to test their strength in the countryside, he said at the Regina hearing.
“I think that passage of this bill will throw the ball firmly back to the producers.”
Later, Upshall told reporters the senators should do more than a head count to figure out where farmer sentiment lies. They also have an obligation to do the right thing.
“I think the senators have an obligation to hear the people and then decide what is best for the governance of the country,” he said.
