Whether the Canadian Wheat Board continues as a single desk selling agency depends on who makes the decision, says the former chair of the grain marketer.
“I’m convinced that if the decision is left with farmers there will still be a single desk board five or 10 years from now,” Ken Ritter said last week.
“If it’s left to the government, I haven’t got a clue.”
Ritter stepped down last week after nine years as chair. The Kindersley, Sask., farmer, who is ineligible to run in this fall’s board elections, will remain a director until the end of the year.
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The board was scheduled to elect a new chair at the end of May, but Ritter decided that with new chief executive officer Ian White starting March 31, it made sense to turn the reins over to a new chair.
Larry Hill, a thrice-elected director and single desk supporter from Swift Current, was voted in as the CWB’s second farmer chair.
Ritter’s tenure at the board has had enough twists and turns to make Agatha Christie envious.
In the inaugural director elections in 1998, he ran as a dual market supporter and squeezed out a narrow victory on the fourth ballot with 50.3 percent of the vote.
Five months into his first term, he had changed his views to become a supporter of the single desk and was elected the CWB’s first farmer chair.
Ritter divides his time as chair into three stages.
For the first two or three years, the main task was figuring out how to transform the board from a government-run to a producer-run organization, something he says has been successfully done.
Then came a period of innovation as the board began introducing new programs, notably an array of new pricing options designed to satisfy demands from some farmers for more flexibility, and to expand its operations and generate more revenue for farmers by, for example, investing in value-added businesses.
Finally came the third stage, triggered by the 2006 election of a Conservative government determined to end the single desk. Since then, the board and government have been engaged in a series of conflicts and crises: a government gag order against promoting the single desk; the firing of the former CEO; the appointment of directors who favour an open market; a court battle over barley marketing and harsh criticism from the federal government.
“It has been highly stressful,” Ritter said. “Nobody goes looking for conflict and my approach is certainly to try to avoid it.”
But he said conflict is almost inevitable as long as Ottawa continues to meddle in the organization.
The government should respect the views of farmers as reflected in the biennial election of directors and recognize their right to control an organization that represents their interests against powerful grain companies and railways.
“It’s the last bastion of farmer power and control,” he said. “Farmers are going to have to make that fundamental choice of whether they want their organization to be there voicing their interests or they don’t.”
Ritter added that for the board to survive and thrive, it will have to work hard to maintain a strong connection with farmers and convince them it’s working in their best interests.
Having support for the single desk at 60 or 55 percent is not good enough, he said.
“It has to be 70 to 75 percent or else there will come a time where there will be strong pressure to get rid of the board altogether.”
Strengthening farmer control of the agency, continuing to look for innovative pricing options and providing more delivery flexibility can help solidify and expand farmer support, he said.
“And it has to connect with all farmers,” he said. “It has to be a business organization and stay away from ideology and politics. It can’t be identified as left, right or centre. It has to be all of them.”
Ritter will stay as a director until the end of his term Dec. 31, 2008.
After that, he plans on continuing to farm and spending time with his six grandchildren, all under the age of seven.
“I seem to connect with them really well,” he said, adding with a laugh he doesn’t think that’s a result of nine years of dealing with his fellow CWB directors.
