There will be at least one new Canadian Wheat Board director following this fall’s election.
Wilfred “Butch” Harder, twice elected to the board by voters in eastern Manitoba, has decided not to seek re-election.
So far, three candidates have declared their intention to run in the district: Bill Toews of Kane, Chuck Fossay of Starbuck and Brenda Tjaden Lepp of Winnipeg.
No matter who wins, he or she will face a daunting task in replacing the often outspoken and colourful Harder, who has been a fixture around the wheat board for nearly two decades.
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First elected to the old CWB producer advisory committee in 1986, Harder was re-elected two more times, before successfully running for the board of directors in 1998 and again in 2000.
“I’m sorry to see him leave,” said CWB chair Ken Ritter.
“He certainly had a great deal of passion for an organization he felt was highly beneficial to western Canadian farmers and he certainly made those views well known.”
In a statement announcing his decision, the 55-year-old Harder said he simply decided it was time to step aside.
“Every organization must renew itself on a regular basis with new blood and fresh ideas,” he said.
While Harder won’t be endorsing any candidate to succeed him, he said the board needs directors who are competent, have integrity, understand the importance of good corporate governance and who support the fundamentals of the board marketing system, namely single desk selling, price pooling and financial risk management.
In an interview from his farm at Lowe Farm, Man., he said that while he believes the CWB is more relevant and important to farmers than ever before, he’s also concerned about the future of the organization in the face of relentless attacks by the United States and through the World Trade Organization.
He doesn’t think the board’s single desk powers are in immediate jeopardy, but he does think the government guarantees of initial payments and borrowings are on the way out as a result of the WTO.
“I’m absolutely convinced we’re not trade distorting, but I think the board will have to knuckle under on that,” he said.
Harder can’t understand why any grain farmers in Western Canada would want to reduce the board’s power and effectiveness in the marketplace by eliminating its single desk authority. Those who do want to try to outdo the board can use the new pricing options, which enable them to operate outside the pooling system.
And he issued a warning that if the board is dismantled, the farmer controlled monopoly will be replaced by a near monopoly of a few giant foreign-owned multinational grain firms.
“If farmers don’t think they have enough say in their grain marketing now, they’ll have none then.”
He added political parties should stay out of the debate about single desk selling and leave the issue up to farmers to decide, through their elected directors or through a plebiscite if necessary.
He said the new board of directors must devise ways to give farmers a more direct feeling of ownership and control of the board.
“We need to get farmers more involved, get them to meetings and get them to understand what we’re doing for them.”
