Manitoba Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers says Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is putting up a “smoke screen” by suggesting the Manitoba NDP could set up its own wheat board if it believes so strongly in forcing farmers to sell their wheat and barley through a single-desk system.
Struthers says a Manitoba wheat board would not be a real single-desk system because it would have to compete against neighbouring jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Toews told the Winnipeg Sun this week that if the NDP government in Manitoba is so set on preventing farmers from selling their wheat and barley to whomever they please, they could set up their own provincial wheat board to replace the Canadian Wheat Board.
“Minister Toews is using that as a smoke screen,” said Struthers. “If it’s not the Canadian Wheat Board single desk, then you’re setting up an environment where farmer competes against farmer, and you’re driving the price down.”
Well, not exactly. If the NDP forced Manitoba farmers to sell their grain through a provincial single desk — like they used to do with hogs until 1996 — farmers in Manitoba would not be competing against each other. Their wheat board would be competing against other jurisdictions, like Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.
Ontario isn’t part of the CWB.
“A single desk is all farmers pooling their wheat and their barley in one place — not a Manitoba wheat board here and a co-op there and a Saskatchewan wheat board there to compete against each other,” said Struthers. “By definition single-desk is all the farmers on a single desk, whether you’re in Manitoba, Saskatchewan Alberta, Peace River (British Columbia).”
That’s not quite true, either. Manitoba could have its own single desk, if it believed strongly in forcing farmers to pool their wheat and barley. They have the constitutional authority to do so. It would be a smaller single desk than the Canadian Wheat Board, granted. But it would still be a single-desk system.
Not that setting up a Manitoba wheat board would be a good idea. It simply calls the Selinger government’s bluff on its desire to economically shackle grain farmers.
If it really wants to do that, now that the CWB is abandoning the single-desk system, why not set up a Manitoba one?
Because the Selinger government knows if it did, it would face a fierce political backlash in several key rural ridings. They want the federal government to do it for them instead.
Meanwhile, Manitoba remains the only western province that still wants the CWB’s single-desk system. All three governments in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia support the federal Conservatives move to end the CWB’s monopoly.
So does the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, which announced Thursday it plans to launch a lawsuit against the CWB for misusing farmers’ funds for political reasons.
They said the tipping point was the CWB’s decision to use farmers’ money to sue the federal government over its decision to eliminate the wheat board’s monopoly.
“This is not their personal slush fund,” said Gerrid Gust, chairman of the WCWG. “They have no right to use farmers’ funds to advance a political agenda.”
The WCWG is in favour of allowing farmers to sell their wheat and barley on the open market.
Imagine that.
The horror.
Struthers says a Manitoba wheat board would not be a real single-desk system because it would have to compete against neighbouring jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Toews told the Winnipeg Sun this week that if the NDP government in Manitoba is so set on preventing farmers from selling their wheat and barley to whomever they please, they could set up their own provincial wheat board to replace the Canadian Wheat Board.
“Minister Toews is using that as a smoke screen,” said Struthers. “If it’s not the Canadian Wheat Board single desk, then you’re setting up an environment where farmer competes against farmer, and you’re driving the price down.”
Well, not exactly. If the NDP forced Manitoba farmers to sell their grain through a provincial single desk — like they used to do with hogs until 1996 — farmers in Manitoba would not be competing against each other. Their wheat board would be competing against other jurisdictions, like Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario.
Ontario isn’t part of the CWB.
“A single desk is all farmers pooling their wheat and their barley in one place — not a Manitoba wheat board here and a co-op there and a Saskatchewan wheat board there to compete against each other,” said Struthers. “By definition single-desk is all the farmers on a single desk, whether you’re in Manitoba, Saskatchewan Alberta, Peace River (British Columbia).”
That’s not quite true, either. Manitoba could have its own single desk, if it believed strongly in forcing farmers to pool their wheat and barley. They have the constitutional authority to do so. It would be a smaller single desk than the Canadian Wheat Board, granted. But it would still be a single-desk system.
Not that setting up a Manitoba wheat board would be a good idea. It simply calls the Selinger government’s bluff on its desire to economically shackle grain farmers.
If it really wants to do that, now that the CWB is abandoning the single-desk system, why not set up a Manitoba one?
Because the Selinger government knows if it did, it would face a fierce political backlash in several key rural ridings. They want the federal government to do it for them instead.
Meanwhile, Manitoba remains the only western province that still wants the CWB’s single-desk system. All three governments in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia support the federal Conservatives move to end the CWB’s monopoly.
So does the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, which announced Thursday it plans to launch a lawsuit against the CWB for misusing farmers’ funds for political reasons.
They said the tipping point was the CWB’s decision to use farmers’ money to sue the federal government over its decision to eliminate the wheat board’s monopoly.
“This is not their personal slush fund,” said Gerrid Gust, chairman of the WCWG. “They have no right to use farmers’ funds to advance a political agenda.”
The WCWG is in favour of allowing farmers to sell their wheat and barley on the open market.
Imagine that.
The horror.
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