OTTAWA (Staff) – Canadian Wheat Board chief commissioner Lorne Hehn signalled last week that he will be no shrinking violet when it comes to defending the board.
He appeared on Parliament Hill in a vigorous political challenge to those who believe farmers would benefit if the board lost its export monopoly for wheat and barley.
To oppose monopoly powers is ideology, he said. The debate should be based on facts.
“It is an economic question and not a philosophical one.”
Then, he set out Lorne Hehn’s version of the economic answers.
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Farmers would be foolish to undermine the board, since it offers them powerful tools such as:
- A size and monopoly power which allows it to compete with the private multinational giants that dominate the world grain trade.
- Being able to offer a consistently high quality product because of Canadian rules and controls.
- Dependability of delivery to markets.
- Support from the federal government which allows the board to borrow at favorable government-backed interest rates. Savings last year of more than $60 million, compared to commercial rates, more than covered the board’s administrative costs.
He said these advantages are well known and envied by Canada’s competitors. In some cases, they are trying to acquire the same advantages for themselves.
“If others are striving for those tools, why would farmers want to give them up?” Hehn asked MPs.
