Recommendations on how to reform the Canadian Grain Commission should be flowing from Parliament Hill before the end of the year, says the chair of the parliamentary committee that will be studying the issue.
A federally commissioned consultant’s report released in mid-September recommended a dramatic overhaul of the rules governing the century-old grain industry regulator.
“There will be some changes to the grain commission that will make it more in tune with what is needed now,” Saskatchewan Conservative MP and House of Commons agriculture committee chair Gerry Ritz said last week. “Everybody knows changes are needed.”
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has asked the committee to hold hearings on the report and make recommendations.
Ritz said the committee will begin hearings as early as next week with the hope of writing recommendations on possible legislative changes needed to the Canada Grains Act before the end of autumn.
“I think the report did a very good job of proposing ways to make sensible changes that will help farmers and the industry,” he said.
The review was forced by the then-opposition Conservatives last year when they made a commission review the price for supporting a Liberal bill changing Canadian Wheat Board rules to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling.
“We just had been hearing from all sides, farmers, traders, grain companies, that the commission as it is now just isn’t working for them,” Ritz said.
Part of the complaint is that protein-based rules for grading and assessing grain are outdated in an age when the value of grain for ethanol production or export emphasizes other attributes.
There also have been complaints about CGC-licensed traders going bankrupt and leaving farmers holding the bag if they delivered product but were not paid. The report suggests the grain commission or the federal government be liable for losses from a licensed company.
The proposals for radical changes to the commission will have critics when the public hearings begin.
Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said Sept. 25 he agrees with the need to review the CGC. But he is uneasy about whether the proposed changes would continue to protect farmer interests and ensure the credibility of Canadian product.
“I think there are some areas in the report that I question but I do believe it is a starting point,” he said. “But we need to hear from all sides before we make decisions.”
Last week, the National Farmers Union said the proposals from the consultant would make the commission a referee between farmers and grain companies, rather than being a farmer advocate.
Here are the report’s key recommendations:
- The grain commission should be given the right to contract out inspection services.
- The Canada Grain Act should be amended to include a modern producer bill of rights that includes the right of delivery access, the right to third-party grade and dockage verification, a renewed producer right to producer cars and a right that producer dealings with licensed companies will be “secure” from losses due to company bankruptcy.
- The CGC should create an industry consultation and advisory roundtable to make the commission more accountable.
- The CGC should receive more government funding to cover consultation, costs of staff, infrastructure and overtime. This would reduce the commission’s costs and reduce the pressure on its budget and need for user fees.
- A president-chief commissioner and a new Office of Grain Farmer Advocacy to deal with farmer complaints should replace the current system of provincially based assistant commissioners.
