Liberals push for CWB change

If Ralph Goodale had known in 1998 what he knows now, he would have written very different Canadian Wheat Board Act amendments when he reformed the board.That became clear last week when the veteran Saskatchewan Liberal and former CWB minister sponsored a private member’s bill in Parliament aimed at increasing the power of the farmer-elected directors and limiting the power of the government to order the board around.With Parliament adjourned until September, the earliest Goodale’s bill could be picked for debate out of the hundreds of private member’s bills in the queue is late this year.”It actually could come to the floor for debate quite quickly, depending on how the draw goes,” the Liberal House leader said in a June 17 interview.”I think in this Parliament, if it came to a vote, this bill would pass.”However, he conceded the Senate is “iffy” because the Conservatives now hold the most seats.When he introduced bill C-548 in the House of Commons June 16, he said it was an attempt to strengthen the power of farmers who use the board. “This is a piece of legislation that pushes democratic producer control over the Canadian Wheat Board.”Under his proposals:* Two of the five directors now appointed by government would be chosen by agreement of at least seven of 10 farmer-elected directors.* Government’s ability to issue orders to the board would be limited to cases in which government financial guarantees or international trade obligations are at risk.* Neither government, an MP or a senator could propose legislation to remove or add grain to the monopoly unless the board approved the idea.* Mandate change could happen only after a majority of farmers voted yes in a referendum that would offer two choices – the open market or continuation of the monopoly.Recently elected board chair Allen Oberg quickly endorsed Goodale’s proposals.”At first glance, I think these address some of the issues that have come up about farmer control,” he said.”Obviously, I think there is a role for government in the wheat board but I think there have to be clear rules and the right balance between farmers and government.”Goodale conceded that farmers often ask him why he didn’t write ironclad guarantees of farmer control into the legislation when it was written in 1998.He said he thought he had.”The legislation was vetted very, very carefully, discussed with farmers, the board and lawyers to the board,” he said. “The assumption all around was that the guarantees provided were clear cut.”So what happened?Goodale said what he thought were guarantees have been eroded by a Conservative government intent on attacking the board and by a federal appeals judge who last year bungled a judgment about what power the 1998 legislation gave the government to issue orders.”Nobody up to 1998 had ever conceived of the attacks on the board that this government has launched in a very routine way,” Goodale said. “This government has stretched the interpretation to absolutely unreasonable lengths.”While both opposition Reform and Progressive Conservative parties campaigned against the CWB monopoly in the 1997 election, Goodale said “both were prepared to obey the law.”He said the present Conservative government has broken “at least the spirit of the law” and has used “public intimidation tactics” in routinely issuing orders.Goodale said the situation was made worse last year when Federal Court of Appeal judge J.A. Noel and his two fellow judges ruled unanimously that the wording of the 1998 act gives Ottawa the power to issue orders “with respect to the manner in which any of its operations, powers and duties under the act shall be conducted, exercised or performed.”Noel wrote that this strengthened the hand of government in being able to issue orders.Goodale, who is a lawyer, said the appeal court judges got it wrong. That judgment is now under appeal.”The judge, with the greatest respect, was trying to assume what was in the mind of the government when the amendments were made in 1998,” he said.”He was drawing some inferences. I was there. I actually know. All he had to do was call me. He misinterpreted the intention.”