Dear Editor,
With the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) elections now in full swing, open market candidates are filling the newspapers with their attacks on the CWB, blaming them for everything from failed cash flow, delivery opportunity and marketing strategy to poor communication etc. etc. etc.
What they have failed to address is the fact that due to increased sales prices for wheat and barley, the CWB made a request to the Federal Government over two months ago – way back in Sept. – to increase the initial payment for grain they sell. To this date, the Conservative government has refused to approve the increase. Seven weeks have passed since the CWB made its second request to the federal government and still no approval of the increase forthcoming. Yet, Gerry Ritz has the audacity to blame the CWB for the delay (Western Producer Nov. 11).
There can be no justification for the government to delay in granting the CWB’s request, other than a Harper, Ritz, Anderson collusion to try to deceive farmers into thinking that the CWB is responsible for low initial prices right at the time of CWB elections.
One other very important statistic the open marketers have never touched on is the fact that the CWB shipped 600,000 tonnes of Western Canadian wheat through the Port of Churchill (second highest volume in more than 30 years). In total 20 ocean vessels loaded with wheat or durum at Churchill were shipped to Europe, Africa and the Americas, saving thousands of dollars for western farmers.
I think most farmers are intelligent enough to see through the Fed’s smoke screen and realize that it is the Feds and not the CWB that are responsible for the low initial price.
Meanwhile the feds are working to replace the CWB with the Corporate Grain Trade, or if you will, the speculative market.
Joyce Neufeld
Waldeck, Sask.