SASKATOON – The “fragile consensus” that produced the controversial SEO report on grain transportation has developed a major crack.
The Canadian Wheat Board has broken ranks with other members of the senior executive officers’ committee over the crucial issue of who should take ownership of the government’s 13,000 grain cars.
“Obviously the board stepping back has weakened the overall impression of an industry consensus, there’s no doubt about that,” said Greg Arason, chief executive officer of Manitoba Pool Elevators and a spokesperson for the SEO committee.
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The board had signed on to the original agreement in early November, including the proposal to sell rail cars to the railways for $100 million. But in the face of vocal opposition from a number of farm groups, including its own producer advisory committee, the board issued a press release distancing itself from the plan.
“We do not support ownership of rail cars by the railways,” said CWB chief commissioner Lorne Hehn, warning the proposal will leave grain farmers at the mercy of the railways once a proposed 10-year cap on freight rates expires.
The SEO group was planning to confer during the first week of January to decide future action. Some members want to send a delegation to Ottawa to press the government for quick acceptance of the package.
Arason said railways and grain companies need to know what the government plans to do so investment decisions can be made.
Farm groups have been lining up on both sides of the debate. The National Farmers Union, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and the Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association want the cars turned over to a producer-run agency.
Another loose coalition made up of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, a number of commodity groups, producer car shippers and inland terminal operators issued a statement supporting the general thrust of the SEO report, and urging it to go even further in deregulating car allocation and grain marketing.
However even that group said it might be willing to support farmers owning the rail cars if that meant the rest of the SEO package would be adopted.
