Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl had enough faith in Greg Arason to extend his term as acting Canadian Wheat Board president this month, but he doesn’t appear to believe that his appointee is telling the truth about CWB market performance.
In early March Parliament Hill testimony, Arason denied suggestions from Conservative MPs including Strahl that the wheat board has a history of underpricing sales to Algeria.
The claims came after a story in an Algerian newspaper quoting a government official as saying the country gets a better deal from Canada than from any other wheat supplier.
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Arason told the House of Commons agriculture committee that 10 years of sales statistics do not support that claim. He said he sent the numbers to Strahl and offered to brief him.
Last week, Strahl said he has gone through the numbers and remains convinced the board has not been getting the best price possible in the Algerian market. He has not accepted Arason’s offer of a briefing on the numbers, which the board insists remain confidential because they are commercial details that could help competitors.
“All I’m saying is that as far as I’m concerned, I’m trying to be nice to the wheat board here by just saying that in my opinion, there’s no valued-added to it and that’s my generous comment,” Strahl said outside the Commons March 21.
“I’m happy to release the numbers the moment they give me the go-ahead.”
In fact, within minutes of Arason’s March 1 assertion that an analysis of the sales numbers will confirm the board has been receiving competitive prices in the Algerian market, two Conservative MPs challenged his assertion. They had not seen Arason’s numbers.
Saskatchewan MP David Anderson said a translation of the newspaper story that is posted on the CWB website quotes Mohamed Kacem, director general of the Algerian importing agency, as saying his country receives “preferential prices which save Algeria tens of dollars per tonne purchased.”
It was the old story of the wheat board making claims and not producing proof, in effect asking people to trust it, Anderson said.
Alberta’s Ted Menzies suggested Arason was forced to defend the board against his will, reading a speech someone else had forced on him.
“I can’t help but believe that isn’t exactly what you would have wanted to tell us.”
Strahl sidestepped a direct question about whether, contrary to Arason’s claim, the board has been underpricing into the Algerian market.
He said he wishes he could release the detailed sales data so farmers could decide on their own.
