There seems to be something for everyone in the first-ever Canadian Wheat Board’s board of directors.
Larry Maguire, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said he was pleased to see some directors elected who support an end to the export monopoly of the wheat board.
Maguire said the five appointed directors seem to come with broad global experience.
Greg Arason was a good choice for chief executive officer, said Maguire. Cory Ollikka, president of the National Farmers Union, thought so too.
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Ollikka said his group is encouraged by the preliminary election results announced Dec. 7. “Seven out of 10 of the elected members ran on strong pro-CWB platforms supporting the fundamental pillars of the wheat board,” he said.
Don Dewar, president of Manitoba lobby group Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the new board “seems like a good mix of philosophies, as long as everyone goes in there to make the wheat board a strong entity.”
Dewar said the five former advisory committee members who were elected based on the initial count will find themselves in a position of power, but will also have to take responsibility for their decisions.
They will have to sell other board members on their views, since they potentially will make up only one-third of the board, said Dewar.
And directors who want major changes may experience the same conversion as outgoing chief commissioner Lorne Hehn, noted Dewar.
Hehn did not support the wheat board’s export monopoly when he was first appointed to the job, but is now a strong supporter.
Dewar said it’s time for the board to get on with business, namely looking at the yet-unused flexible payment options of Bill C-4, the same legislation that allowed for the change in governance.
This will be a big job, said Brian Oleson, who studies co-operatives at the University of Manitoba.
“There’s going to be a lot more work there than I think any of these individuals would fully see at the moment,” said Oleson, who is on leave from a job at the wheat board.
“This isn’t a matter of getting together every three months and dealing with a pretty simple agenda, as is often the case in established private corporations.”
The new board must decide how it will govern, and feel out its “culture,” said Oleson. “This is an entirely new board coming together all at once in an environment that has been marked with a lot of acrimony, and so on.”
Harvey Brooks, who studies co-operatives at the University of Alberta, said the ample business and finance experience of the appointed directors will help the new board figure out what to do and how to meet goals.
Both Brooks and Oleson said it will take some time for the diverse group to learn to work together.
“There’s going to be some conflict on the board, that’s clear, but I think the board is workable,” said Brooks, who was a wheat board manager.
Oleson said he’s confident all members will focus on their fiduciary responsibilities – making sure the CWB runs effectively.
