What's Harper and co. afraid of?
By Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-PostJuly 9, 2011
The barrage of media releases from the three westernmost provinces and farm groups applauding the federal government's move to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk make it appear as though there is unanimity on this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the majority of provincial governments in Western Canada, which represent the bulk of the wheat and barley produced in this country, support the move, that doesn't mean every province is singing from the Harper government's songsheet.
And even though supporters of the single desk, like the province of Manitoba and farm groups, like the NFU, seem to be in the minority, they may well reflect the majority of Western Canadian farmers who grow wheat and barley for human consumption.
The self-congratulatory tone of the releases, the suspicious similarity of their content and the timing of their release are suggestive of an organized campaign stage-managed out of the PMO, cabinet office or other federal government agency.
In the space of an hour or two on Friday, my e-mail inbox was crammed with messages praising the Harper government for giving farmers "marketing freedom.''
The steady parade of press releases from the governments of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Western Barley Growers Association, Western Canadian Wheat Growers, Grain Growers of Canada and Canadian Federation of Independent Business had all the spontaniety of a vote of the politburo of the Worker's Party of Korea.
Does anyone really believe that all these groups, acting independently, putting out press releases at the same time, all saying essentially the same thing, is just a coincidence?
Give me a break. So why are they doing this?
What's the occasion? Well, the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers' meeting was wrapping up in St. Andrew's, N.B.
But the wheat board-single desk debate wasn't really even on the table.
The agenda was supposed to be about, Growing Forward 2, the federal government's proposed new agriculture strategy and farm safety net programs, like AgriInvest, AgriStability and AgriRecovery .
Specifically, the agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba were more concerned about disaster relief for flooded out farmland in the southeast and southwest corners of the two Prairie provinces.
So why all the fuss over the Canadian Wheat Board?
Could it be that the Harper government is taking some heat over its stubborn refusal to allow farmers to vote on the future of the single desk? Could it be that the CWB's plan to hold a plebiscite on whether farmers support the single desk or the open market has turned the tables on the Harper Conservatives and their political bedfellows?
Could it be that federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his counterparts in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. are afraid of what the outcome would be of such a vote?
Make no mistake. The stakes in this game of political football are huge.
If the single desk goes, what will become of producer car loading sites?
Producer cars - which allow farmers to deliver their grain directly to the CWB and bypass the grain companies' elevators and inland terminals - save farmers on average $1,200 per hopper car.
If producer cars go, what happens to the branchlines the producer car loading sites are located on?
What happens to the shortline railroads that use the branchlines? What becomes the rural communities on branchlines served by shortline railroads?
The ramifications of the removal of the single desk from the CWB go well beyond the devstating impact it will have on the largest wheat and barley marketing board in the world - and the farmers who use it.
Yet the Harper government has done nothing to justify its decision to remove the single desk - other than wrap itself in the flag of "marketing freedom.''
It has done no detailed studies (that we know of) on the impact the removal of single desk will have on the CWB, farmers, rural towns, the grain handling and transportation system, the economies of the three Prairie provinces, etc.
All the Harper government has done is bluster and brazen its way through this debate, without consulting directly with the people its decision will affect the most - Western Canadian farmers. Hardly consistent with a government that claims to believe in giving people freedom to choose.
Johnstone is the Leader-Post's financial editor
By Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-PostJuly 9, 2011
The barrage of media releases from the three westernmost provinces and farm groups applauding the federal government's move to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk make it appear as though there is unanimity on this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the majority of provincial governments in Western Canada, which represent the bulk of the wheat and barley produced in this country, support the move, that doesn't mean every province is singing from the Harper government's songsheet.
And even though supporters of the single desk, like the province of Manitoba and farm groups, like the NFU, seem to be in the minority, they may well reflect the majority of Western Canadian farmers who grow wheat and barley for human consumption.
The self-congratulatory tone of the releases, the suspicious similarity of their content and the timing of their release are suggestive of an organized campaign stage-managed out of the PMO, cabinet office or other federal government agency.
In the space of an hour or two on Friday, my e-mail inbox was crammed with messages praising the Harper government for giving farmers "marketing freedom.''
The steady parade of press releases from the governments of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Western Barley Growers Association, Western Canadian Wheat Growers, Grain Growers of Canada and Canadian Federation of Independent Business had all the spontaniety of a vote of the politburo of the Worker's Party of Korea.
Does anyone really believe that all these groups, acting independently, putting out press releases at the same time, all saying essentially the same thing, is just a coincidence?
Give me a break. So why are they doing this?
What's the occasion? Well, the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers' meeting was wrapping up in St. Andrew's, N.B.
But the wheat board-single desk debate wasn't really even on the table.
The agenda was supposed to be about, Growing Forward 2, the federal government's proposed new agriculture strategy and farm safety net programs, like AgriInvest, AgriStability and AgriRecovery .
Specifically, the agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba were more concerned about disaster relief for flooded out farmland in the southeast and southwest corners of the two Prairie provinces.
So why all the fuss over the Canadian Wheat Board?
Could it be that the Harper government is taking some heat over its stubborn refusal to allow farmers to vote on the future of the single desk? Could it be that the CWB's plan to hold a plebiscite on whether farmers support the single desk or the open market has turned the tables on the Harper Conservatives and their political bedfellows?
Could it be that federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and his counterparts in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. are afraid of what the outcome would be of such a vote?
Make no mistake. The stakes in this game of political football are huge.
If the single desk goes, what will become of producer car loading sites?
Producer cars - which allow farmers to deliver their grain directly to the CWB and bypass the grain companies' elevators and inland terminals - save farmers on average $1,200 per hopper car.
If producer cars go, what happens to the branchlines the producer car loading sites are located on?
What happens to the shortline railroads that use the branchlines? What becomes the rural communities on branchlines served by shortline railroads?
The ramifications of the removal of the single desk from the CWB go well beyond the devstating impact it will have on the largest wheat and barley marketing board in the world - and the farmers who use it.
Yet the Harper government has done nothing to justify its decision to remove the single desk - other than wrap itself in the flag of "marketing freedom.''
It has done no detailed studies (that we know of) on the impact the removal of single desk will have on the CWB, farmers, rural towns, the grain handling and transportation system, the economies of the three Prairie provinces, etc.
All the Harper government has done is bluster and brazen its way through this debate, without consulting directly with the people its decision will affect the most - Western Canadian farmers. Hardly consistent with a government that claims to believe in giving people freedom to choose.
Johnstone is the Leader-Post's financial editor
Comment