There will be no change to the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk marketing authority until next crop year at the earliest, said CWB minister Gerry Ritz.
The recently appointed minister of agriculture said his understanding of a July 31 Federal Court ruling is that commodities can be added or removed from the board only by amending the CWB Act and only when the crop year changes.
“So for all intents and purposes, even with an appeals process moving ahead, the next opportunity to change anything is August 2008, as I understand it,” he told reporters after speaking to a meeting of Saskatoon business officials.
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“That means in the immediate future things have to be done within the context of the single desk.”
He added that while the government remains committed to establishing
an open market for barley and wheat, there are things that can be done under the single desk that are more “producer friendly” than is now the case.
The government was expected to announce by the end of August whether it will appeal the court decision.
Ritz didn’t comment on requests from open market supporters that the government effectively end the single desk for barley by ordering the board to issue export licences to grain merchants and farmers and by allowing domestic processors to buy directly from producers.
The minister, who met with CWB chair Ken Ritter and other board officials later in the day, said he hoped to work with the board on an “issue by issue basis” to ensure farmers get as much money as possible from the marketplace.
He also rejected suggestions that the divisive and confrontational debate over barley marketing over the past year will make it more difficult to resolve the issue.
“I think it showed how strongly we feel about this,” he said, adding the plebiscite served as a wake-up call to the CWB.
Over the past year, Ritz has been critical of the board but there was none of that during the Aug. 27 meeting, according to Ritter.
“The minister said he was open to dialogue and it was very cordial,” said the board chair, adding he hopes this was just the first of many meetings.
Both sides agreed on the need to improve returns for farmers, while acknowledging their differing philosophies on how to achieve that shared goal.
Ritter said the meeting focused more on day-to-day issues, such as the need for an increase in initial payments.
Ritter said he hopes the minister’s comments about not changing the single desk before August 2008 indicate the issue will be put on the back burner for a while.
