In light of the results of the barley plebiscite that indicated the most popular option among farmers is an open market with a voluntary Canadian Wheat Board, the government has an obligation to figure out how that can happen, says Canada’s largest farm lobby.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen said April 2 the CFA continues to think the plebiscite process was flawed. But with the government determined to move to end the barley monopoly, clarity on the detail is required.
“Barley growers have spoken (and) they have chosen an option that we really don’t understand or know if it’s even possible,” he said. “It is the government’s obligation to figure out how realistically this can work.”
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At this stage, the issue of implementing the end of the barley monopoly while keeping the board as a player has become a question of who blinks first. All sides are saying someone else should take on the job of figuring out how to make that option work.
Agriculture minister Chuck Strahl has been consistent in his view that it is up to the CWB to figure out how to give farmers what they want.
“The wheat board says they represent farmers and if that is the case, then I think they have an obligation to come up with a business plan that addresses that concern,” he said at his March 28 news conference announcing the vote results and the government plan.
Shortly after, CWB chair Ken Ritter told reporters the board cannot and will not do it.
“Time and again we’ve heard the statement, ‘I’ve laid it on their lap so they can figure out how to do it,’ ” he said. “Well, we have looked at it and seen that it just can’t be done.”
Can’t compete
On the eve of the vote results, the wheat board told Ottawa it only would be able to work in an open market if the government gave it money to build grain handling infrastructure.
Board critics like Western Barley Growers Association president Jeff Nielson from Alberta said the board doesn’t need infrastructure to compete. It can use brokers or grain companies to move its product.
“They can adapt if they want to,” he said.
Friesen said the point is that this is a change being forced on the wheat board by the government.
“We’ve always had the view that if the government dabbles in policy change, it should come up with the plans and solutions for how the changes will work,” he said. “We actually believe this should have happened before the plebiscite.”
However, he said once the government changes the law, it will be the wheat board’s obligation to make the best of the new rules.
