HEADINGLEY, Man. – With little advance publicity, federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl arrived in Manitoba on Dec. 19 to a rally in a farmer’s shed a few miles west of Winnipeg.
At this carefully crafted event, Strahl announced that he had fired Canadian Wheat Board chief executive officer Adrian Measner.
Standing in the crowd of about 200 people were the two CWB farmer-elected directors who support elimination of the board’s monopoly marketing powers, as well as federal Conservative members of Parliament, provincial Tory politicians and a wide array of anti-monopoly farmers. Also present were 1990s border runners who intentionally delivered wheat or barley to the United States without permits as a form of protest.
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Strahl lauded the perceived benefits of eliminating the board’s monopoly and he blamed the board for poor performance in wheat and barley marketing when compared to open market crops. His speech received hearty and repeated applause from the crowd.
Most of the farmers at the event were told about it the night before or that morning, with word spreading through the “barbed-wire telegraph,” as one put it. Media were alerted two hours before the rally.
But standing outside the shed was farmer-elected director Bill Toews, a member of the board’s pro-monopoly majority. He denounced Strahl’s decision to fire and replace Measner without consulting the board of directors.
“We should have been the ones to decide on Mr. Measner’s fate,” said Toews.
“We’re quite unhappy with it. Mr. Strahl has used the (Canadian Wheat Board) Act in a way that it was never intended to be used. Any changes he’s made should have been in discussion with the board, which he didn’t do.”
Strahl named former CWB CEO Greg Arason as Measner’s interim replacement. Arason has agreed to avoid pro and anti monopoly politics.
“He wants to focus on that main job of marketing grain,” Strahl told reporters.
“I’m afraid that we’ve gotten away from that somewhat over the last while. There’s been an awful lot of activity and work that’s had nothing to do with marketing grain. It’s time to get back to that.”
A group of local farmers liked what they heard.
“It’s all positive,” said Rick Rutherford of Grosse Isle, Man.
“We’re stifled by the board and its policy. We need somebody (as president and CEO of the wheat board) there to do the job instead of somebody there to be basically against what’s happening at the board and not selling our grain.”
Lorne Hulme of MacGregor, Man., said he was pleased Strahl was moving aggressively to break the board’s monopoly.
“It’s time. It’s way past time,” said Hulme.
Strahl may have acted unilaterally in firing Measner, but he sounded more conciliatory about finding a permanent replacement.
“I spoke with Mr. (Ken) Ritter and told him I’m happy to work with him and his board to talk about a process on how to move forward with that selection,” he told reporters.
“It’s something I need to and want to work with the board to do. I’ll work with them and we’ll see how they want to proceed.”
Strahl acknowledged that farmers elect directors to oversee the board’s operations, but said he had the power to do what he did regardless of the farmer-directors’ views.
“Admittedly it’s an odd creation. I didn’t create it,” said Strahl.
Toews said he was encouraged to hear Strahl intends to consult with farmers, but is still skeptical.
“If he’s offering that, it’s the first time he’s offered any co-operation with the board,” said Toews.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
