Multinational grain companies are rushing to invest in the prairie industry because they anticipate the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board, CWB chief commissioner Lorne Hehn suggested last week.
During an appearance before the Senate agriculture committee April 21, Hehn was asked by Alberta Liberal Joyce Fairbairn who would replace the board if its critics won and its monopoly was ended.
“You already see it,” said Hehn.
He alluded to the rush of foreign investment, which has included expansion by Cargill Ltd., the advance of Archer Daniels Midland in buying plants and purchasing a large chunk of United Grain Growers and the growing presence of such global giants such as ConAgra and Louis Dreyfus.
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“They are already planning for the day we are gone,” said Hehn.
Meanwhile, the Senate committee plans to wrap up public hearings this week with a second appearance by wheat board minister Ralph Goodale.
Then, after the April 30 session, the committee will begin private debates about wheat board issues raised during its hearings, including a handful of Conservative amendments that would create a CWB opt-out provision, make the president and chief operating officer an appointee of the farmer-controlled board of directors, subject the board to the scrutiny of the federal auditor-general and remove the inclusion clause.
Last week, senior Agriculture Canada official Howard Migie told senators he imagines the minister would want to consult the board of directors for its approval before making any CEO appointment.
But he did not endorse a Conservative proposal that a board of directors veto be written into the legislation.
The Liberals, who hold a majority on the committee and in the Senate, have not indicated which amendments they might support, to be sent to the Senate for debate.
Process followed
If amendments are approved by the Senate and sent back to the House of Commons, MPs will vote on them and send the bill back to the Senate for a final judgment.
Although it rarely occurs, the Senate has the power to kill legislation.
Perhaps more crucial to the government and Canadian Wheat Board minister Ralph Goodale is the timing.
To organize late autumn elections to the new CWB board, the bill will have to be approved before Parliament adjourns June 23 for the summer.
It leaves six parliamentary weeks for the wheat board legislation to be completed and in the countdown to the adjournment, the parliamentary agenda becomes crowded.
Ministers must negotiate for a slice of the time available to deal with their legislation.
And the Senate must co-operate by setting aside debate time and bringing bills to a vote.
In the rush to the last election, a number of bills died. The first version of the wheat board reform bill was one of those.
When Senate committee hearings on the CWB bill began in early March, Goodale suggested senators plan to get the bill back to the Commons by the end of April.
Some senators bristled at what they saw as pressure and deadlines.
It is almost certain the Senate will miss that suggested deadline by at least a month, dropping the wheat board bill into the June scheduling pressure cooker.
