Marketing Choice - The Way Forward Task Force Report One Year Later

[charliep]

Just curious as to see if anyone has re read the Task Force report from a year ago. Was going to comment in the Sask Party Wins thread but thought the topic merited its own discussion.

http://www.agr.gc.ca/cb/ip/pdf/final_251006_e.pdf

[Kodiak]

Just to refresh and maybe stimulate some discussion -- the report’s main recommendations were:

1. Repeal the CWB Act (essentially removing the monopoly and government control)
2. Bring forward new legislation creating CWB II (a marketing organization without a monopoly and without government control)
3. CWB II would be:
a) farmer owned and controlled
b) capitalized with existing CWB assets, Fed Government contributions, and subsidized farmer stock holdings
c) back-stopped by Government guarantees for a period of time
d) further farmer investment as deemed necessary by CWB II
e) free to market any and all grains
4. The above to take place over a period of time to allow all participants time to adjust - INCLUDING THE CWB. If the CWB board of directors so chose, they could transform the CWB into CWB II. If not, a completely new CWB II would emerge from the legislation.



Personally I thought then, and I still think, this report hit on the solution. It’s too bad Chuck Strahl didn’t even make an attempt to utilize the valuable advice his task force gave him.

Instead he chose the barley plebiscite route - and nothing has changed. We’re no closer to the Conservative’s election promise of marketing choice than we were two years ago when the Liberals were doing all their CWB pork barreling - Reg Alcock, Ralph Goodale, Avis Gray, David Herle…..

And wheat and barley producers are still being forced to leave a bunch of money on the table.