As the federal government proceeds with its plan to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk, prairie provincial governments opposed to the plan are getting more involved in the debate.
The governments of Saskatchewan and Manitoba plan to offer advice and support to a new coalition of prairie farm groups pressing Ottawa to hold a plebiscite before making changes.
After maintaining a low profile on the issue in the past few months, agriculture ministers in both provinces have begun speaking out in support of the wheat board’s sales monopoly on western grown wheat, malting barley and all exported barley, and demanding that farmers have a vote.
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In an interview last week, Saskatchewan agriculture minister Mark Wartman said estimates indicate that eliminating the single desk would cost Saskatchewan farmers $300 to $400 million annually.
“We believe the single desk is a better system for all western Canadian farmers,” he said. “But ultimately we believe farmers should be able to decide though a clear and honourable question on a plebiscite.”
Wartman and Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk spoke at a July rally in Saskatoon in support of the single desk, but both have been relatively quiet on the subject since.
Wartman said he made the province’s position known to CWB minister Chuck Strahl and expects to address the issue more forcefully in the coming weeks.
“I expect as things move forward we will be making as clear as we can what our position is,” he said. “Any opportunity I get to provide support to farmers’ right to market through a single desk, I’ll do that.”
Meanwhile, Wowchuk issued a statement during a trip to Japan lauding the job done by the board in selling wheat to that country and making a strong statement in support of the single desk.
“Meeting with the CWB here and talking to Japanese companies and officials has underscored for me what we are at risk of losing if the CWB single desk is eliminated,” she said.
She said the consistent branding provided by the wheat board is crucial to Japan’s preference for Canadian wheat.
The minister said the board also helps farmers and communities in areas like rail lines and transportation, trade issues and maintaining the Manitoba port of Churchill, which depends on CWB grain for about 80 percent of its annual throughput.
“It is clear that any changes to the single desk could have a tremendous impact on Manitoba farmers and communities,” Wowchuk said, adding no change should be made until a plebiscite has been held, as required by the CWB Act.
Alberta’s provincial government is a strong supporter of Ottawa’s plan and has a representative on the federal task force studying how to bring in an open market.
