"PUBLICATION: Meadow Lake Progress
DATE: 2013.01.24
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: 6
ILLUSTRATION: Photo By Paul Turenne,/Winnipeg Sun
Pro-Wheat Board protestors rally outside the Wheat
Board's Winnipeg headquarters in October, 2011.
BYLINE: PAUL BRIAN AND JESSICA HUME, MEADOW
LAKE PROGRESS
WORD COUNT: 343
Wheat Board won't be back: Supreme Court
Last Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada has
dismissed an attempt to have the Wheat Board put
back in charge. The Wheat Board formerly held a
monopsony over wheat sales.
A monopsony is a situation in which one buyer is able
to dictate terms to many sellers, similar to a monopoly
where one seller can dictate terms to many buyers.
The federal government established laws last summer
that allow wheat and barley farmers to sell their
commodities to any purchaser they choose. Since the
1940s, Canadian farmers were required to sell grain
through the $6-billion a year Wheat Board, which the
Tories got rid of via an Order-in-Council, saying it
infringed on market freedom.
However, a group called Friends of the Wheat Board
filed a court application Sept. 19 to have the decision
against the Wheat Board overturned. The organization
is made up of farmers and other citizens who support
the now defunct Wheat Board.
The Friends of the Wheat Boards claimed that the
decision to do away with the Wheat Board merely
grants a handful of multinational corporations greater
stake in the Canadian grain sector, instead of
encouraging fair competition as the government
claims.
They describe the former Wheat Board as a "pro-
farmer monopoly" and accuse the current system of
being "unlawful, undemocratic and ... unsustainable."
The group also bristles at what it called a lack of
consultation with farmers on the decision to do away
with the Wheat Board.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz does not share the
Friends of the Wheat Board's views. Ritz
aid most farmers are already taking advantage of the
open market.
"We are pleased with today's decision that upheld the
rights of western Canadian grain farmers to make their
own business decisions."
Bob Roehle, co-ordinator of the Friends of the Wheat
Board, put Ritz's comments in another context.
"Farmer are enjoying some of the highest prices right
now, but that's because there was a drought last year
in the U.S. and Canada had a good crop. Those prices
cover up a lot of market flaws, and the question is how
those farmers feel next year when prices aren't as
high."
Friend ofthe Wheat Board plans to keep fighting. They
have launched a $17-billion lawsuit against the federal
government, saying the number "represents the value
of what's been lost" in dismantling the Wheat Board.
The trial date is yet to be announced."
http://206.75.155.11/Agcan/m.bbsummaries.asp?
articleId=/agcan/clips/130125/f05274BH.htm
DATE: 2013.01.24
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: 6
ILLUSTRATION: Photo By Paul Turenne,/Winnipeg Sun
Pro-Wheat Board protestors rally outside the Wheat
Board's Winnipeg headquarters in October, 2011.
BYLINE: PAUL BRIAN AND JESSICA HUME, MEADOW
LAKE PROGRESS
WORD COUNT: 343
Wheat Board won't be back: Supreme Court
Last Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada has
dismissed an attempt to have the Wheat Board put
back in charge. The Wheat Board formerly held a
monopsony over wheat sales.
A monopsony is a situation in which one buyer is able
to dictate terms to many sellers, similar to a monopoly
where one seller can dictate terms to many buyers.
The federal government established laws last summer
that allow wheat and barley farmers to sell their
commodities to any purchaser they choose. Since the
1940s, Canadian farmers were required to sell grain
through the $6-billion a year Wheat Board, which the
Tories got rid of via an Order-in-Council, saying it
infringed on market freedom.
However, a group called Friends of the Wheat Board
filed a court application Sept. 19 to have the decision
against the Wheat Board overturned. The organization
is made up of farmers and other citizens who support
the now defunct Wheat Board.
The Friends of the Wheat Boards claimed that the
decision to do away with the Wheat Board merely
grants a handful of multinational corporations greater
stake in the Canadian grain sector, instead of
encouraging fair competition as the government
claims.
They describe the former Wheat Board as a "pro-
farmer monopoly" and accuse the current system of
being "unlawful, undemocratic and ... unsustainable."
The group also bristles at what it called a lack of
consultation with farmers on the decision to do away
with the Wheat Board.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz does not share the
Friends of the Wheat Board's views. Ritz
aid most farmers are already taking advantage of the
open market.
"We are pleased with today's decision that upheld the
rights of western Canadian grain farmers to make their
own business decisions."
Bob Roehle, co-ordinator of the Friends of the Wheat
Board, put Ritz's comments in another context.
"Farmer are enjoying some of the highest prices right
now, but that's because there was a drought last year
in the U.S. and Canada had a good crop. Those prices
cover up a lot of market flaws, and the question is how
those farmers feel next year when prices aren't as
high."
Friend ofthe Wheat Board plans to keep fighting. They
have launched a $17-billion lawsuit against the federal
government, saying the number "represents the value
of what's been lost" in dismantling the Wheat Board.
The trial date is yet to be announced."
http://206.75.155.11/Agcan/m.bbsummaries.asp?
articleId=/agcan/clips/130125/f05274BH.htm
Comment