A high-profile government MP says Canada can use World Trade Organization negotiations to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board’s export monopoly.
It’s a position that runs directly counter to the federal government’s official position on the issue.
David Anderson, parliamentary secretary to agriculture and wheat board minister Gerry Ritz, made the comments in a column recently published in the Wakaw Recorder of Wakaw, Sask.
Anderson wrote that all grain and oilseed producers will benefit from a WTO deal that provides improved market access and reduced trade barriers.
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He said western Canadian grain farmers will also benefit from free choice in grain marketing and linked that directly to the WTO negotiations.
“The WTO is one tool that can be used to bring about that freedom,” he wrote.
Anderson’s comments conflict with the government’s position that the wheat board’s future should be determined in Canada by a vote of Parliament rather than by foreign competitors at the WTO.
“We’ve always said that decisions should be made domestically in the best interests of our farmers,” Ritz said in mid-November. “We continue to advocate for that.”
At a Parliament Hill committee meeting in early October, international trade minister Stockwell Day went further, saying Canada would not sign a trade deal if it couldn’t persuade other WTO countries to drop proposals to end the wheat board monopoly and undermine supply management protections.
Anderson declined requests to be interviewed for this story.
National Farmers Union president Terry Boehm said Anderson’s comments are a truer reflection of the government’s agenda regarding the CWB than comments by Day and Ritz.
“David Anderson is probably articulating the government’s hope that the WTO will be able to do the work that a minority Conservative government hasn’t been able to accomplish,” he said.
Boehm said he’s under no illusion that there has been any change in the government’s attitude toward the wheat board.
“None of us has any doubt that if (prime minister Stephen) Harper has a majority government, they will legislate the CWB out of existence in everything but name.”
Meanwhile, Ritz has said the wheat board’s position on WTO talks is not in the best interests of western grain farmers.
The board recently issued a statement saying wheat and barley growers could be out $10,000 to $20,000 each if the WTO deal is adopted.
Ritz said the agency should be more supportive of achieving a new trade deal.
“Everyone around the world knows trade will be the key to getting out of the current global economic instability so we’ll keep pushing at the WTO to get the best possible deal for all Canadian farmers,” he said.
“It’s truly unfortunate the CWB isn’t putting farmers first and supportive of new market opportunities for wheat and barley at the WTO.”
