WINNIPEG – Farmers will be able to take full control of the Canadian Wheat Board under proposed new grain marketing rules, says the board’s chief commissioner.
Lorne Hehn says critics who have accused federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale of sticking with the status quo in his recent announcement of CWB reforms are off the mark.
“Those who claim that the minister failed to show leadership on this issue fail to understand just what remarkable changes are in store for the grain marketing system in Western Canada, particularly at the Canadian Wheat Board,” he told delegates attending the annual meeting of United Grain Growers Ltd.
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In fact, he said, the marketing agency is about to undergo the most significant changes in its 61-year history.
“Goodale will, in effect, be giving farmers carte blanche – the ability to do great things in the future with their marketing system,” Hehn said.
Under proposed new rules, the CWB will by 1998 be run by a board of directors made up of a majority of elected farmers.
That means farmers will be responsible for a $5 billion marketing corporation, the country’s fifth largest export company and Canada’s largest corporate net earner of foreign exchange.
Owen McAuley, a former member of the Western Grain Marketing Panel, delivered much the same message to the UGG meeting.
“The opportunity is there for great change,” he said in an interview after speaking to delegates.
Until now, any significant change to board marketing operations could only be done by amending the CWB Act. Under the proposed new rules, the board will be free to act without government approval.
“Changes can be made more quickly, with less political and bureaucratic involvement,” said McAuley.
Ability to reshape
Combined with the fact that farmers will be electing directors who will determine board policies, there is real potential for producers to re-shape the board.
Hehn said the board will be providing more information to farmers in coming months about a number of new pricing and purchasing options designed to get more money from CWB sales into farmers’ hands more quickly.
Parts of the proposed new program will need approval from other government departments or regulators.
For example, the board will gain authority to close pool accounts and make final payments at any time. It wants to allow farmers to defer settlement until after Jan. 1 if they choose, but must get approval from Revenue Canada.
The board also wants to allow farmers to trade producer certificates, which entitle the holder to adjustment, interim or final payments, but the board will first have to work out the rules with provincial securities commissions.
