Greg Arason, the Canadian Wheat Board president imposed on a reluctant board by the Conservative government with a mandate to keep his nose out of politics, told MPs last week that government MPs have been inaccurately maligning the board’s performance.
The CWB does not undersell in the Algerian market despite claims by American competitors and Conservative MPs, he told the House of Commons agriculture committee March 1.
And it is capturing high prices in Ontario despite inaccurate comparisons between pool price projections and spot prices by some. He did not mention names, but agriculture minister Chuck Strahl and many Conservatives are among the accusers.
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Arason said he was not venturing into the political debate but he will intervene when critics, “including some members of Parliament,” misrepresent the facts.
“Making inaccurate statements about sales values and our relationship with specific customers is damaging to our business and as a consequence, damaging to western Canadian farmers,” said Arason. “This is about business. It’s not a political debate and I believe very strongly, as the CWB’s entire board of directors believes very strongly, that any criticism of the CWB should be based on fact, not on innuendo circulated by Canada’s competitors.”
He said he had sent 10 years of sales figures on Algeria to agriculture minister Chuck Strahl that would prove his point about board premium sales. Strahl’s office has not taken up the offer for a briefing.
Conservative MPs unhappy with the message quickly tried to discredit Arason’s statements.
“I would really like to know who wrote that speech for you,” said southern Alberta Conservative and former Western Canadian Wheat Growers’ Association activist Ted Menzies. “I can’t help but believe that isn’t exactly what you would have wanted to tell us.”
Saskatchewan Conservative David Anderson, parliamentary secretary to the agriculture minister with responsibility for the CWB file, said he has not seen Arason’s confidential numbers.
“Mr. Arason today says we should trust him,” Anderson said as a government witness at the committee to counteract Arason. “I’ve heard that for a long time from the Canadian Wheat Board that we should just trust them on their numbers and everything is OK. The only sales that I know of, that I actually know the figures on, I know there is a discount on them for farmers.”
Anderson then proceeded to use the pool price projection as a comparison against spot prices to argue farmers are ill served by the board, despite Arason’s protest that it is an invalid comparison.
Still, Arason sidestepped invitations from both sides to take a position on the debate over the benefits of the monopoly.
His job now, as it was when he was appointed in the 1990s by the Liberals to be wheat board CEO, is to run the business, he said.
“I have really focused on the business and have not entered the debate about the mandate of the board,” he told Bloc Québecois MP André Bellavance.
“I believe that’s an issue that should be resolved by farmers and ultimately by the government.”
