REGINA – Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister is not surprised Alberta farmers voted in favor of dual marketing for wheat and barley.
“You have the government of Alberta, traditionally opposing the wheat board, putting together a question and receiving the answer that they wish,” said Eric Upshall. “What they asked the farmers is, ‘do you want dual marketing’, which to a farmer means, ‘do you want the best of both worlds.’ Of course farmers want the best of both worlds.”
But Upshall said if farmers were asked if dual marketing means the end of the Canadian Wheat Board they might change their minds. He reiterated the province’s position that Saskatchewan farmers would not vote in a similar plebiscite.
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“It’s not necessary,” he said. “We have a Canadian Wheat Board system in this province that gives farmers tremendous advantages.”
Saskatchewan’s turn
But provincial Tory leader Bill Boyd said Saskatchewan farmers should have their say.
“We believe farmers should have more options in terms of marketing their products,” he said. “I think that over time you will see that more and more producers are coming to the realization that they want access to other markets.”
Liberal agriculture critic Harvey McLane said the vote does not mean all farmers want to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board.
“I do think that we’re a little bit hasty in thinking that one province should decide the fate of a board that affects all of Canada,” McLane said.
The Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on international sales of wheat and barley applies to grain grown in the prairie provinces and parts of British Columbia.
McLane said farmers are saying they want changes and the Western Grain Marketing Panel, which is expected to begin its review of the process early next year, is the way for those types of decisions to be made.
