Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board is a farm organization created to support the CWB’s single desk sales powers for all exported western grown barley and domestic malting barley.
The Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) is an organization led by farmers, but open to all Canadians who value democracy, honest government and strong family farms. The federal government’s handling of the CWB issue has left us with no alternative but to launch a court action opposing the order terminating CWB single-desk barley marketing.
The same day our action was launched, we sent a letter to the federal government asking it to support a speedy hearing. We are pleased that the Federal Court has put the wheels in motion for an expedited hearing, July 25, 26 and 27.
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The basis of our case is that the cabinet order has three strikes against it:
1. It is unlawful.
2. It is undemocratic.
3. It tries to implement a plan that is unsustainable.
1. The government’s regulation is unlawful. The government’s cabinet order violates Section 47.1 of the CWB Act. The CWB Act was changed in 1998 and, for the first time, the act clearly spelled out how a grain could be removed from CWB jurisdiction: removal requires legislation that must be passed in Parliament following consultation with CWB directors and a vote by farmers.
The 1998 changes to the CWB Act transferred operational and long-term policy authority to farmers, to be exercised through the farmers elected to the board of directors. Section 47.1 was an integral part of a series of steps meant to safeguard the farmers’ marketing agency from outside interests – including a hostile government.
By failing to follow the procedures set out in section 47.1, the government cabinet order quashes the concept of farmer control. The order goes against both the spirit and the letter of the 1998 CWB Act.
2. The government’s cabinet order is undemocratic. It is the culmination of a series of hostile actions by the federal government over the past 15 months:
- Federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl holds a closed-door meeting in Saskatoon with anti-CWB organizations (July 27, 2006).
- Strahl appoints a hand-picked task force stacked with industry-linked CWB opponents (Sept. 19, 2006).
- Strahl issues a gag order on the CWB – it cannot defend single desk (Oct. 6, 2006).
- Mid-election, Strahl removes 16,000 farmers from the CWB directors elections voters list (October 17, 2006).
- Strahl begins firing and replacing appointed CWB directors (Oct.-Nov., 2006).
- Strahl fires CWB chief executive officer Adrian Measner (Nov.-Dec., 2006).
- Strahl falsely alleges the CWB sold durum to Algeria below market prices. Newly appointed CEO Greg Arason sets the record straight saying Strahl’s assertion “is not factual.” (Feb.-March, 2007).
The final straw has been the government’s “plebiscite” of barley farmers. That plebiscite lacked nearly every safeguard essential for a fair and transparent vote:
- Public voters lists.
- Broadly scrutinized vote counts.
- Controls on election spending (CWB spending was limited to zero, but spending by other parties was neither limited nor monitored; government MPs spent to promote the agriculture minister’s position).
- A clear question (Strahl’s three-part question ignored direction from Parliament and from the farm organizations that represent the majority of farmers by including an impossible “dual market” option, and the ballot used inconsistent and loaded language to advantage the government’s preferred option).
- A guarantee of ballot secrecy (the ballots included identification numbers).
- Broadly accepted victory conditions (Strahl decided the victory conditions after he knew the results, unfairly adding options two and three to concoct his majority).
All Canadians … should be embarrassed by the undemocratic actions of the federal government, especially the barley plebiscite. Canadians would not accept such behaviour on other issues. Holding governments accountable, during and between elections, is key to maintaining any true democracy.
3. The system the government regulation seeks to impose is unsustainable.
Both logic and experience from previous “voluntary” boards show farmer loyalty is not enough to sustain a weakened board that would have no assets, no borrowing guarantees, no elevators, no storage facilities, no terminal access to ships and no role in grain transportation. In the past 15 months, the government has never once produced a business plan showing a voluntary CWB would be “viable” or “strong.”
The government’s cabinet order weakens the CWB and its ability to market grain on behalf of farmers. And the government is clear that it is not stopping at barley. It intends to remove wheat from CWB jurisdiction at its earliest opportunity.
Conclusion
In 1993, a previous government tried to strip away the CWB’s single-desk marketing advantage for barley through a cabinet order, to create a so-called continental barley market. Acting on behalf of farmers, grain-handling co-ops went to court and the court ruled that the government’s cabinet order was illegal. The court reversed the government’s initiative and restored CWB’s single desk selling advantage for barley. Farmers stood up for their rights in 1993 and were successful.
The Friends of the CWB recognize there are differing views on the most effective ways to market grain, and we value open and honest debates on the subject. …
We urge all Canadians to take note of the government’s negative attitude toward farmers, democracy and Canadian laws. A democratic, accountable and law-abiding government is something that all Canadians must strive to maintain.
Yours truly,
The 12 applicants in the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board court challenge:
Harold Bell, Fort St. John, B.C.
Art Hadland, Baldonnel, B.C.
Lynn Jacobson, Enchant, Alta.
Ken Eshpeter, Daysland, Alta.
Art Macklin, Grande Prairie, Alta.
Terry Boehm, Allan, Sask.
Bill Woods, Eston, Sask.
Stewart Wells, Swift Current, Sask.
Lyle Simonson, Swift Current, Sask.
Wilf Harder, Lowe Farm, Man.
Keith Ryan, Winnipeg, Man.
Ken Sigurdson, Swan River, Man.
