Canadian Wheat Board minister Chuck Strahl has disappointed some of his staunchest allies by calling for a plebiscite on barley marketing.
The Western Barley Growers Association and the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, which have been lobbying for years for an end to the CWB’s single desk authority, both expressed frustration over the government’s decision to hold a vote.
In an Oct. 30 News release
news, WBGA president Jeff Neilsen said the issue should be treated as one of individual freedom and property rights, not something to be decided by majority rule.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
“It is every farmer’s right to choose how they wish to sell their own property; no one has the right to deny this,” said Neilsen.
“A plebiscite is not the answer; personal freedom of choice is.”
He said the association would have preferred the government to implement the recommendations of its CWB task force, which said the government should eliminate the single desk for barley and wheat without holding a plebiscite.
In an interview from his farm at Langbank, Sask., WBGA vice-president Tom Hewson said the association reluctantly accepts the decision to hold a plebiscite and will now turn its attention to issues associated with the vote, namely what question should be asked and who should vote.
“The decision has been made so we’ll try to look ahead rather than back,” he said.
While the association doesn’t have a specific question in mind for the plebiscite, which is slated to be held in January, Hewson said it should not offer a stark black and white choice between the single desk marketing system and the open market.
Rather, the choice should be between the single desk and an alternative that includes a restructured CWB operating as a grain company in a open market, as described in the task force report.
As for the voters list, he said voters must grow a significant amount of barley, the list should not exclude those who sell only into the domestic market, and the ballot should be weighted by production or sales, meaning bigger farmers get more votes.
The wheat growers association agreed, and went further by saying the plebiscite should not be seen as binding on the government, but rather simply as a chance to gauge farmers opinion on the issue.
It suggested giving farmers three options: the single desk; an open market including a voluntary wheat board; and an open market with no CWB at all.
The National Farmers Union, which supports keeping the single desk and has been calling for a plebiscite, also thinks the question is crucial.
It said farmers should be given two choices: maintain the ability to market all barley, except feed sold domestically, through the CWB single desk; or remove the single desk and sell all barley through an open market system.
NFU president Stewart Wells said he’s worried that, based on the recent changes to the CWB director elections voters list, the government may try to rig the voters list to increase the chance of victory for the open market option.
“I can’t trust this government and this minister to run a proper plebiscite with a fair vote,” he said.
CWB chair Ken Ritter welcomed news of the plebiscite, but said it should also include wheat and must offer a clear choice between the single desk and the open market.
“Farmers have a right to vote on all mandate changes for the CWB (and) that applies to wheat as well as barley.”
Ritter added that all parties must agree to abide by the results of plebiscite.
The board has been calling for a plebiscite for months, saying the issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible for the sake of farmers, customers and CWB employees.
In a 1997 plebiscite on barley marketing, 63 percent of farmers voted to retain the single desk for export and human-consumed barley.
