Ritz is the federal minister of agriculture and minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.
This year’s grain prices are looking good for farmers and Canada’s new government is making sure they reap the benefits by quickly approving the Canadian Wheat Board’s initial price increase request.
Our government is committed to farmers and we are also committed to accountability with taxpayers’ dollars.
That commitment applies to approvals for initial price increases.
Increases to the CWB’s initial prices put taxpayers’ dollars on the line and before those requests can be approved, there’s an important due diligence process to go through.
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That process usually takes between eight and 12 weeks. This time we were able to do it in just under seven weeks.
The CWB has now submitted another request for an initial price increase. Our commitment to accountability with taxpayers’ dollars will apply to this request as well.
But we’re going to work as quickly and efficiently to do the due diligence necessary because we’re also committed to getting high prices into farmers’ pockets as quickly as possible.
I’m a farmer and I know farmers. They work hard to keep a close eye on their finances. I know they expect the same from their government.
It’s interesting to read Wayne Easter’s Liberal views on the issue.
He doesn’t seem at all concerned about the accountability process. He doesn’t seem to be aware that old Liberal agriculture ministers never approved initial price increases as quickly as he claims.
And he and his opposition colleagues remain oppressively opposed to the most obvious way for farmers to access market prices.
Western Canadian farmers are calling for the right to make their own choices about marketing their grain. Western Canadian barley producers voted 62 percent in favour of marketing choice. They’re calling for the same rights that producers in the rest of Canada take for granted.
Computers and cell phones are becoming as important as seeders and combines for today’s cutting-edge farmers. Western Canadian farmers are closing deals to sell crops such as canola and chickpeas to markets on the other side of the world with a few clicks of a computer mouse.
They have all the talent and expertise needed to market their own grain.
Canada’s new government is committed to delivering marketing choice and allowing western Canadian farmers the right to maximize returns on the open market or to opt for the stability of the CWB’s government-backed pooling accounts.
If Wayne Easter is genuinely interested in getting high prices into western Canadian farmers’ pockets quickly, he’s welcome to support Canada’s new government’s commitment to marketing choice.
