A Liberal-dominated House of Commons committee is slated to unveil a
political bombshell this week.
The Commons agriculture committee is poised to recommend a trial free
market for the Canadian Wheat Board, a period when the single desk
power for barley and wheat export and sales for domestic consumption
would be suspended.
That is a key recommendation of a report on the future of agriculture
to be tabled June 11 or 12. The report was approved at a private
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committee meeting June 6 after MPs heard the wheat board defend its
monopoly and reject any suggestion that a break on wheat prices would
be warranted for prairie value-added pasta plants or millers.
Only New Democrat MP Dick Proctor opposed the proposal and will issue a
minority report, according to parliamentary sources.
Committee reports are confidential until tabled in the House of
Commons. The report contains many recommendations, but the CWB proposal
is expected to be the most explosive.
“This is meant to spark a debate about the powers of the wheat board,”
said a parliamentary source familiar with the draft report. “It will
set the cat among the pigeons.”
It will mark a sharp departure for the Liberals, who have been staunch
supporters of the CWB. Late last week, Liberal sources familiar with
the situation alerted wheat board minister Ralph Goodale.
“He will not be amused,” said a party source.
Board supporters and some trade specialists argue that trade rules
would make any move away from a monopoly irreversible.
The recommendation will have no binding power on the government but
will add weight to the arguments of board critics who have complained
that prairie farmers should have the same dual market option as do
Ontario wheat farmers.
Ironically, Ontario millers recently asked their provincial government
to end the dual-market experiment for Ontario soft white wheat.
The millers are arguing the rules should either make the Ontario Wheat
Board the sole marketer or make sale of wheat strictly open market.
The hybrid system of choosing wheat board or open market has been
destabilizing for millers trying to make sure of supply, said one
miller executive who asked not to be identified. “It has to be one or
the other.”
Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties have been
campaigning against the CWB monopoly, insisting that a dual market, and
not destruction of the wheat board, is their aim.
Meanwhile, hours before MPs decided on the controversial
recommendation, wheat board representatives were before the agriculture
committee to extol the virtues of the monopoly. They rejected
suggestions that farmer-owned prairie-based milling plants should
receive an exemption from board pricing policies, which ensure all
mills buy at the same price, even if the grain is provided by mill
farmer owners.
CWB chair Ken Ritter acknowledged that the board is criticized for not
giving farmer-owned processing facilities a break on grain prices. But
that would diminish returns for the pool and most farmers don’t want
that.
