Roy Jarrett came to an information meeting about a new bill governing the Canadian Wheat Board and didn’t like what he heard.
“Surely they don’t think people will accept what they put forward today. Surely it’s just a scare,” said the Daysland, Alta. farmer.
It’s the first time Jarrett and 300 other farmers heard about some of the proposals in Bill C-72, the federal government bill that will replace the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
But if farmers were worried about the implications, it’s not surprising. The Alberta Grain Commission member chairing the meeting admitted they were focusing on the bad parts of the bill after he was asked by a farmer if there wasn’t something good in the proposed legislation.
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Weed out the bad points
“We can’t go into all the good things. Before it becomes law let us address those things that will affect us adversely,” said Eugene Dextrase, a High Level farmer and member of the Alberta Grain Commission, the group sponsoring the series of information meetings across the province. The grain commission is a provincial government-appointed group that advises the minister of agriculture on grain and oilseed issues.
Camrose lawyer Alan Fielding told the group that instead of giving more power to farmers, the new bill will give more control to the federal cabinet.
He said the farmer-elected wheat board advisory committee will be abolished and replaced with a president and board of directors, of which only some will be elected. He said the board of directors, chair and president can all be appointed at the “pleasure of cabinet” and “the board is who the cabinet says it should be.”
Another concern is a contingency fund, established with farmers’ money, to guarantee initial payments. The federal government has said it will guarantee the initial payment announced each crop year, but will dip into the contingency fund after that.
Fielding said there is nothing in the legislation that limits how much farmers’ money will go into the contingency fund or how large it can get.
Farmer dip into pockets
He said the contingency fund will likely mean “additional costs and lower returns to farmers.”
While federal agriculture minister Ralph Good-ale has stressed he won’t interfere with the interprovincial trade of feed grain, Fielding said the wording in the legislation doesn’t guarantee it.
Dextrase said it’s these parts of the legislation the grain commission felt farmers should be aware of.
“Once it’s legislation we have to live with it – now’s the time to act.”
Cecile Dietrich said he’s pleased he made the effort to come to the meeting.
“I’m glad someone woke me up. It looks like they’re doing exactly opposite of what they should be doing,” said the Heisler farmer.
It’s not the first time George Calvin has read the proposed bill. He isn’t keen on it either, but the National Farmers Union member is worried about the strange bedfellows the bill has created when the NFU and the Alberta government are on the same side.
“I get a little concerned when the minister is involved,” said Calvin of New Norway.
While he doesn’t like parts of the new act, he fears the provincial government’s involvement is just a disguise to get rid of the board.
Earl Rasmuson of Gwynne said as a local Alberta Wheat Pool delegate he believes Goodale won’t interfere with interprovincial trade of feed grain, but he’s still worried some of the proposed changes simply don’t enhance the wheat board.
