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Last kick at longest agriculture issue

Ahead of the Heard

The last federal election wasn’t over for more than a day when stories started appearing on the imminent demise of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). The end of the CWB is one of those ideological pillars of the Conservative government that they are obligated to carry out - one way or another. Goodness knows they tried through stealth and duplicity to bring the CWB to heel. Remember the duplicitous referendum on barley, interfering in administration and corporate policy, making mischief with the voters list and having to fend off lawsuits from CWB supporters and the board itself. Add in meddling by the Alberta and former Saskatchewan NDP governments. It was all to no avail of course being a minority government wasn’t in a political position to make the final kill. With the recent election all that has changed.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz soon after his re-appointment made it clear that the CWB issue was on the top of his to-do list. CWB supporters were just as quick to point out that the termination of the board was not part of the Conservative election platform and that the future of the CWB should be decided by a farmer referendum. That was just posturing for a losing cause. Minister Ritz shot back stating that he would consult widely with the industry on its future, and besides the CWB was not being terminated, but instead it would be made voluntary. That was just code for ending the monopoly by a thousand cuts. The Minister intends to have his cake and eat it too, one way or another he will get back at all those CWB supporters that bedeviled and thwarted him over the past 5 years.

No doubt the big grain companies are quickly planning for the transition and see a highly diminished CWB as a fading force in the grain business. Heck, Cargill even has some experience in finishing off such an entity. They bought the Australian Wheat Board, which was a humiliating end to an organization that was once equal to the CWB, a classic example of how far the mighty can fall.

Could it have been done differently, perhaps, but the CWB issue has been polarized for years with neither side willing to compromise. It would have helped if the CWB had re-invented itself 20 years ago, when farmers were being prosecuted for selling grain across the border. That was very very bad PR for the CWB, and it should have served as a wake-up call for real change to the mandate of the board.

Instead the CWB and its opponents engaged in statistics wars over which marketing system was best. It was all selective of course, the reality was and is that the closer you are to American markets the better the grain marketing opportunities may be. Conversely, the further you are from the border the better marketing through the CWB becomes. As with most commodities produced in this country it’s the cost of transportation that takes all the fun out of marketing. But I digress.

As the future of the CWB unfolds there is an elephant issue in the room that I hope will be addressed, but that I suspect with be lost in all the animosity on one side and all the triumphalism on the other side. It’s an issue that CWB opponents willfully chose to ignore and that the CWB has never fully taken credit for. The issue is the Canadian response to the inevitable American trade action against Canadian grain exports - it’s happened 9 times before and it’s guaranteed to happen again.

That trade response has always been handled by CWB trade experts and lawyers and has cost millions of dollars. In every case the expertise and experience of the CWB was successful in defending Canadian interests. As the CWB fades into history what organization will defend wheat growers against the next challenge.A challenge that will surely occur as Canadian grain trucks clog every border American grain elevator once export controls are lifted.

Existing anti-CWB producer groups can barely maintain offices and run an AGM, will they be able to mount a defence? - I think not. I expect those same groups will all be demanding that the Canadian government do the work the CWB used to do. I suspect the day will come that the demise of the CWB will be much lamented.