REGINA (Staff) — Grain producers will know before the end of October how agriculture minister Ralph Goodale intends to tackle the dual marketing system debate.
In Regina last week, Goodale said he will announce a consultation process “within which the differing views with respect to marketing systems can be aired and debated and discussed”, before the end of the month.
In the meantime, hearings and meetings will continue through the winter.
Goodale said the process could include a plebiscite but he hasn’t decided yet.
“I think it’s important that as this debate on the Prairies rages on about the most appropriate marketing systems for the future, it’s critically important that all the information be thoroughly presented and aired and cross-examined so the case for or against any particular marketing system can be thoroughly understood based upon facts and not based, perhaps, on just argumentation,” he said.
Two rallies are planned today in Regina; one organized by farmers in favor of dual marketing and the other by those supporting the Canadian Wheat Board’s system.
