The federal Conservative government hopes to announce early next year a plan to remove the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly while designing a CWB that remains “strong and profitable in a dual market environment,” says a senior official in the office of agriculture minister Chuck Strahl.
Conrad Bellehumeur, director of communications for the minister, said that critics of a government decision to hold a closed-door meeting July 27 in Saskatoon with supporters of the government plan are missing the point.
“This isn’t a meeting where decisions will be made,” he said.
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“This is the beginning of the process to find models for how the wheat board can transition successfully to operate in a dual market. We will be having consultations with others. We’re just doing our homework.”
He said despite the criticisms, the government has made no decisions about how the board will be transformed, how farmers will be consulted and whether there will be a producer vote on the issue.
“The only decision that has been made is to begin exploring options and models for how we can offer farmers choice while keeping a strong and profitable wheat board,” Bellehumeur said. “The decision to offer choice has been made. We campaigned on it.”
However, the government does have a timetable in mind for how it will unfold.
The July 27 meeting begins the process, Bellehumeur said. Other consultations will be held.
In the autumn, the government will prepare and present a “road map” of options.
After harvest, farmers will be consulted. By early 2007, the government wants to be able to announce its plans.
“We certainly would like to be able to do that early in the new year,” he said.
That could make the issue a prime prairie election topic when the next national vote is held, expected in 2007.
Saskatchewan MP David Anderson, parliamentary secretary to Strahl who is designated to lead the process, said he is feeling pressure from farmers to move quickly.
While Bellehumeur said a decision on whether to hold a farmer plebiscite as demanded by critics has not been made, Anderson said his mind is made up on the issue.
“My opinion is that I don’t think the outcome as to whether farmers should have marketing choice should be decided by a vote,” he said July 21. “It is their right. But the final decision will be made by the minister.”
Meanwhile, opposition continues to swirl around the July 27 event.
Farm groups including the National Farmers Union and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture are organizing a public pro-board meeting at a hotel across the street from Anderson’s closed meeting.
They are calling for a rally, which they say could clog Saskatoon’s downtown streets.
CFA leaders will address the rally from their annual meeting in St. John’s, Nfld.
“This is about democracy,” CFA president Bob Friesen told a Parliament Hill news conference July 21 held jointly with NDP agriculture critic Alex Atamanenko and NFU women’s president Colleen Ross.
“The process is a little bit backwards. There should be a farmer vote before any decisions are made or planning is done.”
Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said in a July 24 interview that the Conservatives are failing in their obligation to act as a government that operates openly and represents the broader citizenry.
“They are trying to run a closed shop but they have to realize they are the government and not just a political party with a narrow agenda.”
Bellehumeur said that while the July 27 meeting includes mainly representatives of those who have considered how to make a dual market work (Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is the only CFA member attending), other groups have been asked to submit their proposals for discussion.
Anderson said the government would like the board of directors of the CWB to “take the lead” in designing a way to move from its current status as the sole seller of western grown wheat, malting barley and all exported barley to being a player in a market system that would see the board compete alongside private grain companies.
