In the face of a sustained campaign of opposition, which stretched last week from Parliament to farm groups and two prairie premiers, the federal government this week set out to stare down the critics.
It vowed to push through Parliament without amendment legislation to reform the Canadian Wheat Board. Three days of House of Commons time were set aside to try to accomplish the goal.
Wheat board minister Ralph Goodale said he would not amend Bill C-4, despite criticism from all four opposition parties.
Last week, much of the criticism settled on a proposal that farmers be given the power to vote new grains into the CWB monopoly.
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Goodale said he would not withdraw the inclusion proposal, despite some quiet suggestions from members of his own Liberal caucus that withdrawing it might defuse some of the opposition.
“No, that is not the inclination,” Goodale said in an interview.
Withdrawing the clause would not end criticism. “When I meet with farm groups taking this position and ask the blunt question ‘is that the one change that would make this satisfactory,’ the answer comes back that this would be a start.”
Goodale continues to insist that there is a “silent majority” of prairie farmers who support the legislation, despite the vocal critics.
He said the reform will give farmers control over the board and allow it to evolve as farmers want.
But last week, on the eve of the Feb. 9 resumption of parliamentary debate, the public extra-parliamentary debate was very one-sided. The silent majority was nowhere in sight.
A delegation of farmers protesting what they call excessive CWB secrecy was on Parliament Hill, winning Reform party support and editorial endorsement from the influential Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper.
Reform MPs vowed to fight for changes in the legislation, while conceding chances were slim.
“I just don’t think Mr. Goodale is listening,” said Alberta Reform MP Leon Benoit. “If he was, he would not be claiming that level of support. Farmers overwhelmingly want choice.”
And the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association trotted out some high-profile prairie allies in their fight against the bill.
Letters to prime minister
The group fighting against inclusion and continuation of the CWB monopoly made public letters written late last year by the Conservative premiers of Alberta and Manitoba to prime minister Jean ChrŽtien, endorsing some of the criticisms of the federal legislation.
Manitoba premier Gary Filmon wrote that he supports the wheat board but opposes any possibility that its monopoly marketing powers could be expanded.
“I believe that the inclusion clause of Bill C-4 represents a significant step backward for the growing agricultural sector of Canada’s economy,” Filmon wrote.
Alberta premier Ralph Klein was more sweeping in his criticism, complaining that the bill would extend federal control into provincial jurisdiction and does not end the CWB monopoly.
“Our farmers are fully capable of maximizing production and processing opportunities and marketing their grain,” wrote Klein. “They do not need a government-controlled monopoly to do this on their behalf. Our farmers and the government of Alberta do not object to those who may wish to maintain the security of the CWB.”
