from this weeks Agriweek
<blockqoute> <b>DUE PROCESS</b>
The government's dual-market strategy
The Federal Court of Appeal has reportedly set Feb. 21 for a hearing into the appeal by the federal attorney general of the decision of a Calgary judge overruling the regulatory change that would have established a dual market for barley in the Canadian Wheat Board area. The date appears tentative; it does not appear on the published court calendar and no location has been designated. Between now and government lawyers and those representing the Wheat Board will make written briefs to the court. It is not known how much time will be set aside for this case. More important, there is no way of even guessing how long the court will take to render a decision once the proceedings are concluded.
<b>The government will do nothing until the appeal is decided.</b> If it is decided in favor of the government the Wheat Board will undoubtedly try to appeal further to the Supreme Court of Canada. If it is decided in favor of the Board, the government will proceed with legislation amending the Canadian Wheat Board Act. There is apparently no third option.
In the very best case, the appeal court will strike down the Calgary ruling and the Supreme Court will decline to hear the Board's appeal, allowing the barley regulation to take effect. It would be a stretch for this process to be completed in time for the start of the 2007-08 crop year.
At the other end, the Court of Appeals could uphold the Calgary ruling. The government would then have to try to get the amending bill passed. It is not just the parliamentary vote. The legislation could easily be bottled up in the agriculture committee and possibly other committees until the next federal election, which is bound to come some time in 2008.
<b>The best chance has passed to amend the legislation and so resolve, once and for all, not just the barley monopoly issue but wheat also. The appeal should have been scrapped and legislation brought in immediately after the Calgary decision. Each week that has gone by has made the opposition stronger and the next election closer, not to mention the possibility that the Harper government could be replaced by a Liberal minority government.</b> The situation is that the elected government cannot enforce a policy that the Wheat Board does not like.
If there is not a clear path to a dual market by the time farmers make their seeding plans, wheat and barley area for 2008 will probably drop sharply. Farmers have seen that a free market in barley could have functioned and could have given them more income.
Meanwhile the Wheat Board is carrying on as if nothing happened, or will happen. After the New Year it will announce a new cash pricing system for malting barley that will operate outside the pooling system, however it will still control prices.</blockqoute>
<blockqoute> <b>DUE PROCESS</b>
The government's dual-market strategy
The Federal Court of Appeal has reportedly set Feb. 21 for a hearing into the appeal by the federal attorney general of the decision of a Calgary judge overruling the regulatory change that would have established a dual market for barley in the Canadian Wheat Board area. The date appears tentative; it does not appear on the published court calendar and no location has been designated. Between now and government lawyers and those representing the Wheat Board will make written briefs to the court. It is not known how much time will be set aside for this case. More important, there is no way of even guessing how long the court will take to render a decision once the proceedings are concluded.
<b>The government will do nothing until the appeal is decided.</b> If it is decided in favor of the government the Wheat Board will undoubtedly try to appeal further to the Supreme Court of Canada. If it is decided in favor of the Board, the government will proceed with legislation amending the Canadian Wheat Board Act. There is apparently no third option.
In the very best case, the appeal court will strike down the Calgary ruling and the Supreme Court will decline to hear the Board's appeal, allowing the barley regulation to take effect. It would be a stretch for this process to be completed in time for the start of the 2007-08 crop year.
At the other end, the Court of Appeals could uphold the Calgary ruling. The government would then have to try to get the amending bill passed. It is not just the parliamentary vote. The legislation could easily be bottled up in the agriculture committee and possibly other committees until the next federal election, which is bound to come some time in 2008.
<b>The best chance has passed to amend the legislation and so resolve, once and for all, not just the barley monopoly issue but wheat also. The appeal should have been scrapped and legislation brought in immediately after the Calgary decision. Each week that has gone by has made the opposition stronger and the next election closer, not to mention the possibility that the Harper government could be replaced by a Liberal minority government.</b> The situation is that the elected government cannot enforce a policy that the Wheat Board does not like.
If there is not a clear path to a dual market by the time farmers make their seeding plans, wheat and barley area for 2008 will probably drop sharply. Farmers have seen that a free market in barley could have functioned and could have given them more income.
Meanwhile the Wheat Board is carrying on as if nothing happened, or will happen. After the New Year it will announce a new cash pricing system for malting barley that will operate outside the pooling system, however it will still control prices.</blockqoute>
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