CWB law almost certain to be delayed:
By Barry Wilson, Ottawa bureau
23/09/2011 3:59:27 PM
Prairie grain farmers should make their 2012
marketing plan assuming the Canadian Wheat Board
marketing monopoly still will be in place, says a key
opposition opponent of government dismantlement
plans.
Winnipeg New Democrat MP Pat Martin, opposition
CWB critic, said that the government's promise to
end the wheat and barley monopoly effective Aug.
1, 2012 is virtually certain not to come to pass.
Legislation must make it through Parliament and
the opposition can use multiple procedural tactics
to delay it, even with a majority government.
"A lot of people who follow parliamentary procedure
say that if he (agriculture minister Gerry Ritz)
cannot get it through Parliament by Dec. 15 (when
Parliament adjourns until late January), it is unlikely
to implement the changes needed for a free market
by Aug. 1, 2012," the MP said in an interview. "It's
not that difficult for the largest opposition in
Canadian history to use procedural tactics to stall
and delay that legislation."
Martin said that since farmers begin to plan during
the winter how to sell their 2012 crop, they should
assume the wheat board single desk will be an
option next year.
"I think farmers should operate under the
assumption that the status quo will prevail for 2012
because the minister cannot guarantee delivery of
his promise," he said. "With the passion and the
strong belief we are on the side of the angels with
the CWB, there will be a full court press pulling out
all the stops and using every tool at our disposal to
stop, delay and sabotage the intention of the
minister. I don't think he knows the fight he is
going to get."
Complicating the government's legislative challenge
is the fact that the first major piece of legislation is
a controversial omnibus crime bill introduced this
week that government leaders say will be a priority
this autumn even as opposition MPs insist they will
delay it.
Martin said Ritz is "deluded" if he thinks grain
legislation will get through Parliament by the time it
rises for summer in mid-June.
In the House of Commons Sept. 23, Liberal
agriculture critic Frank Valeriote insisted that the
CWB plebiscite showed prairie producers support
the board's single desk even if they voted
Conservative in the spring election. Of the 56
percent of permit book holders who voted, 62
percent of wheat producers supported the
monopoly.
Ritz insisted the "vast majority" of farmers
"understand the needs and requirements to market
on their own behalf."
He noted that they sell their own canola, pulse
crops and livestock. "We know they can do that with
wheat as well, they just need a chance to do that."
Ritz said the opposition can oppose. "They can say
no but at the end of the day, this is going to
happen."
By Barry Wilson, Ottawa bureau
23/09/2011 3:59:27 PM
Prairie grain farmers should make their 2012
marketing plan assuming the Canadian Wheat Board
marketing monopoly still will be in place, says a key
opposition opponent of government dismantlement
plans.
Winnipeg New Democrat MP Pat Martin, opposition
CWB critic, said that the government's promise to
end the wheat and barley monopoly effective Aug.
1, 2012 is virtually certain not to come to pass.
Legislation must make it through Parliament and
the opposition can use multiple procedural tactics
to delay it, even with a majority government.
"A lot of people who follow parliamentary procedure
say that if he (agriculture minister Gerry Ritz)
cannot get it through Parliament by Dec. 15 (when
Parliament adjourns until late January), it is unlikely
to implement the changes needed for a free market
by Aug. 1, 2012," the MP said in an interview. "It's
not that difficult for the largest opposition in
Canadian history to use procedural tactics to stall
and delay that legislation."
Martin said that since farmers begin to plan during
the winter how to sell their 2012 crop, they should
assume the wheat board single desk will be an
option next year.
"I think farmers should operate under the
assumption that the status quo will prevail for 2012
because the minister cannot guarantee delivery of
his promise," he said. "With the passion and the
strong belief we are on the side of the angels with
the CWB, there will be a full court press pulling out
all the stops and using every tool at our disposal to
stop, delay and sabotage the intention of the
minister. I don't think he knows the fight he is
going to get."
Complicating the government's legislative challenge
is the fact that the first major piece of legislation is
a controversial omnibus crime bill introduced this
week that government leaders say will be a priority
this autumn even as opposition MPs insist they will
delay it.
Martin said Ritz is "deluded" if he thinks grain
legislation will get through Parliament by the time it
rises for summer in mid-June.
In the House of Commons Sept. 23, Liberal
agriculture critic Frank Valeriote insisted that the
CWB plebiscite showed prairie producers support
the board's single desk even if they voted
Conservative in the spring election. Of the 56
percent of permit book holders who voted, 62
percent of wheat producers supported the
monopoly.
Ritz insisted the "vast majority" of farmers
"understand the needs and requirements to market
on their own behalf."
He noted that they sell their own canola, pulse
crops and livestock. "We know they can do that with
wheat as well, they just need a chance to do that."
Ritz said the opposition can oppose. "They can say
no but at the end of the day, this is going to
happen."
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