Canadian Wheat Board president Greg Arason said he is confident Canadian negotiators will be able to protect the CWB in the next round of world trade talks.
But he urged the government to take an aggressive stance at the talks, demanding that other countries live up to their 1995 World Trade Organization commitments before Canada makes more concessions.
Arason told the Senate agriculture committee two weeks ago that at a recent trade conference, a delegate said Canada should not accept a cheque this time before it figures out if the one it got last time was good.
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“I think the cheque bounced,” said the CWB president. “I think what we thought we had we did not get. If you look at the record, that is borne out by what is happening in the U.S. and the EU in particular.”
Arason said Canada should seek allies “because we need some support to take on the big guys.”
He said the European Union policy of subsidizing farmers as social policy has gotten out of control.
“As far as the Americans are concerned, one of the issues is that they just do not like the competition. We are a strong competitor.”
He said the noisy American claims about targeting state trading entities like the wheat board are part of the buildup to the talks and should not cause Canadian farmers too much worry.
“I am optimistic that the wheat board is going to be around longer than I am,” said Arason.
He said Canadian negotiators are vowing to defend the board: “We have to put their (the critics’) feet to the fire and say that (if) you are attacking the Canadian Wheat Board, what about Cargill, what about ADM, what about ConAgra, much bigger players, much more market impact and much less transparent than the Canadian Wheat Board.”
Arason said he hopes the fact the federal auditor general will examine board books for the first time next year will satisfy some of the domestic and American critics who complain the CWB is too secretive.
