The federal government’s proposals for changes to the Canadian Wheat Board leave many questions unanswered about how the new board will work, wheat board minister Ralph Goodale conceded last week.
But he vowed they would not make the CWB more vulnerable to American trade challenges.
Goodale told the Senate agriculture committee April 30 he anticipates the United States will target the wheat board in the next round of world trade talks.
Yet he said in the past five years, the Americans have not provided a shred of proof that the board is an unfair trader.
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In trade talks “we will concede not one bloody inch to the competition,” he said near the end of close to two hours of testimony before senators studying government CWB reform legislation.
No evidence of wrongdoing
Goodale said since 1993 when he was sworn in as agriculture minister and confronted American complaints, he has been asking for evidence of wheat board unfair trading.
“It has not been forthcoming,” he said. “Not one example.”
But don’t the proposed changes and the unanswered questions about how they will work make the wheat board more vulnerable to American complaints during trade talks which begin next year? asked Winnipeg Conservative Senator Mira Spivak.
The U.S. will raise state trading enterprises, agreed Goodale. But they have their equivalent state traders which also must be raised.
“They will continue the argument,” he said. “You can bet your boots I will defend our position with every ounce of vigor I have. We have truth on our side.”
