Farmers wishing the Canadian Wheat Board debate would just go away might enjoy the Liberal party’s platform document.
It doesn’t contain a single mention of the grain marketing institution.
But federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said not too much can be read into the board’s absence from the Liberal promise book.
“It was only as of last Friday it became obvious that C-72 was not going to make it through all the parliamentary hoops,” said Goodale about his legislation to reform the board. That legislation, which had not passed, died when prime minister Jean ChrŽtien called the election.
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The campaign platform was written well before the election call, Goodale said, and C-72 was still a going concern.
The grain selling powers of the wheat board have been a contentious issue among prairie farmers for the past few years.
Some pieces of legislation that were beached by the election call, such as the endangered species bill, will probably be substantially rewritten before they are reintroduced by a future Liberal government.
Goodale said he wants to send wheat board legislation back to the House of Commons virtually untouched.
“The bill does not need rewriting, the work is done, the hearings are done, the committee amendments are already in the piece,” he said. “We just pick it up and go forward with it.”
