Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz says the Canadian Wheat Board is unnecessarily spending farmers’ money to urge producers to lobby Ottawa on World Trade Organization talks.
However, he has not used his ministerial power to instruct the CWB to stop its WTO advertising campaign despite a 2006 order from then-agriculture minister Chuck Strahl that the board stop spending money to promote the single desk.
“I’m always concerned when they are spending Canadian farmers’ money in a way that is unnecessary,” Ritz said.
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“They’ll have to justify that to farmers. I think they should talk about what the costs are.”
For weeks, the CWB has been buying full-page advertisements warning that current proposals at WTO negotiations would harm the board. The latest WTO negotiating text suggests an end to the CWB monopoly by 2013.
“Time is running out for farmers,” says the ad campaign, which was run in advance of a WTO ministerial meeting that Ritz will attend at the end of November in Geneva.
“Now is the time for the government of Canada to stand up for western Canadian farmers at the WTO and defend farmers’ right to choose their marketing structure.”
The ad then encourages farmers to contact the minister.
Ritz said the campaign is unnecessary.
The government has said it opposes the proposal on the table at the WTO. It wants to eliminate the monopoly, but it wants to do it domestically and not have the decision dictated by Canada’s foreign competitors.
“We’ve always said that decisions should be made domestically in the best interests of our farmers,” Ritz said. “We continue to advocate for that.”
At a Parliament Hill committee meeting in early October, trade minister Stockwell Day agreed with an opposition questioner that Canada would not sign a deal if it does not persuade other WTO countries to drop proposals to end the CWB monopoly and undermine supply management protections.
Ritz did not say why he did not order the wheat board to stop the ad campaign. The 2006 order, quickly called a “gag order” by board defenders, has been controversial.
It was challenged in court and a lower court judge said the order was illegal.
In June, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned that ruling, arguing 1998 changes to the Canadian Wheat Board Act give the government of the day the power to give orders to the board on how to conduct itself.
Clause 18 (1.2) reads: “Compliance by the corporation with directions is deemed to be in the best interests of the corporation.”
The board has decided to try to appeal the Appeal Court decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
