More than two months after legislation was introduced that would give cabinet the power to change the Canadian Wheat Board marketing mandate, it finally may have its first debate in Parliament this week.
But it is a long shot.
The government has put Bill C-46, amendments to the CWB Act, on the list of bills that could be called for debate this week. However, unless the order of precedence changes, it is far down the priority list and may not be called for debate.
Perhaps by coincidence, the Conservative decision to put the bill on the priority list came a day after New Democrat wheat board critic Pat Martin introduced a motion to Parliament demanding that the government either call the bill for debate or withdraw it.
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When he introduced it at the end of February, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said he wanted the bill passed into law by summer so the barley monopoly could be ended by Aug. 1.
Then the bill sat for two months on the parliamentary agenda without government priority.
Martin told an April 30 news conference that leaving the bill on the order paper without resolution was leaving farmers in limbo. Ritz should either call the bill for debate and a vote or withdraw it so farmers would understand the rules for the next crop year.
“He is a real cowboy when it comes to threatening people that he is going to ram this through,” said the Winnipeg MP. “Well, I’ve got news. Gerry, it is high noon and we are calling you out. If you want to fight about this, have the guts to put it on the floor of the House of Commons and we will have that fight.”
At first, Martin predicted the government would lose the fight in Parliament because opposition parties are united in opposing the minority government’s attempt to end the CWB’s barley monopoly.
Later in the news conference, he seemed less certain, worried that the Conservatives would call the bill and make it a confidence vote that could defeat the government. Martin said he is not convinced the Liberals would back up their opposition rhetoric with a vote to bring down the government.
“I think they (Conservatives) would have to make it confidence because they owe it to their western base that has been pushing for this,” he said.
The government has little time left to push the bill through the House of Commons and Senate to make it law by Aug. 1.
At most, there are six more weeks of parliamentary sittings before a 12-week summer break from mid-June until mid-September. In those few sitting days, the bill would have to go through Commons second reading debate, committee hearings, third reading debate and then a repeat of the stages in the Liberal-dominated Senate.
Opposition parties have vowed to use whatever delaying tactics they can to thwart government intentions.
Meanwhile, the House of Commons agriculture committee voted last week to call new CWB president Ian White to testify and to justify his credentials for the job and to explain his attitude on the monopoly debate.
However, since his appointment already has started, the committee said there is no need to make his appearance an urgent matter.
It likely will happen in the autumn if the government does not fall in the interim.
