Standing Committee of Agriculture

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From Tuesday, December 7, 2004

"Mr. David Anderson (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC): This follows up on our last meeting, when we had the Canadian Wheat Board folks here. I just made a motion that the Wheat Board submit to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food all documents, including minutes of meetings, concerning grants and forgivable loans to the Farmer Rail Car Coalition.

There are a couple of reasons for that. One of them is that we were given two numbers. The Farmer Rail Car Coalition gave us a number that was entirely different from the number the Canadian Wheat Board has given us. I think, given the fact that this is testimony to a House of Commons committee, we have an obligation to find out which of those is accurate.

Secondly, the money that's gone towards this is actually coming out of farmers' pool accounts, and there may be some question as to whether the Wheat Board is even authorized to do that. I would like to know what the discussion was and what resolution was made in discussions on that subject."



................yakety yak


[Proceedings continue in camera]


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21 November, 2005

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): Thank you, Mr. Angus.

That completes our first round, so I'll use the chairman's prerogative to slip a couple of questions in here.

Mr. Measner, are you concerned that the federal government refuses to pay your legal challenges? They are picking up the tab for a lot of other organizations, yet the Wheat Board seems to go high and dry when it comes to the multitude of challenges you've faced.


Mr. Adrian Measner: We have requested that we be reimbursed for some of those legal challenges, because it's very expensive. But that's not going to happen.

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21 November 2005

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): That's unfortunate, because it comes right out of farmers' pockets, then.

You also mentioned you're thinking of purchasing the cars that you now lease?


Mr. Adrian Measner: There are about 1,600 cars that are leased by the federal government. We have an option on those cars to purchase them at the end of the lease, and those leases expire, some of them, as early as January 2006. Our plan is to exercise that option on those cars, given the very attractive scenario that's there.


The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): Are they part and parcel of what the Farmer Rail Car Coalition is trying to...?


Mr. Adrian Measner: No, those are different cars.


The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): Those are separate.


Mr. Adrian Measner: Those are separate cars. They're not owned by—


The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): Okay. Who will manage that fleet, then?


Mr. Adrian Measner: If we do purchase them—and we're in those discussions right now—the Canadian Wheat Board would manage them. We have 2,000 other cars that we manage.


The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): The Wheat Board, then, wouldn't be in direct competition with the Farmer Rail Car Coalition, or however that ends up?


Mr. Adrian Measner: I don't see it as direct competition, but we have 2,000 cars we manage now. This would just add to that complement. The Farmer Rail Car Coalition would manage the other 13,000 cars. It's all farmers, and the farmers, I'm sure, would work together.


The Vice-Chair (Mr. Gerry Ritz): But you're also funding a portion of the work that the Farmer Rail Car Coalition has done to this point?


Mr. Adrian Measner: We have provided assistance there, because we think it's a very worthy cause, a very positive cause.

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November again

Mr. Adrian Measner: We'd have 460 employees, if we were staffed to full complement. We've got about 440 employees at the Canadian Wheat Board right now



.......
Mr. Adrian Measner: Oh, you mean farmers who have permit books--


Mr. David Smith: Yes.


Mr. Adrian Measner: --and deal with the Canadian Wheat Board. In the current year, it would be around 55,000 farmers, I guess.



One employee for every 125 farmers.

Go figure

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November again

Mr. Adrian Measner: The largest market is China. The Southeast Asia area would be the most important, I guess, and the largest area at this point in time. Japan is a very important market for us--very quality conscious and certainly a premium customer. We also market into the north Africa area on the durum side and into a number of the Latin American countries on wheat and durum. So it's 70 countries around the world. The bulk of it probably would be in Southeast Asia, the largest area.


China, Southeast Asis and Africa.

Does the CWB know that the per capita income of these countries is under $1000 per year?

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Thursday, Dec 2, 2004
Mr. Ian McCreary (Director, District 6, Canadian Wheat Board):......................
" The Canadian Wheat Board markets wheat and barley for export and domestic human consumption for approximately 75,000 farmers in western Canada."



Measner said 55,000 for 2005.

Did the CWB lose 20,000 farmers in one year?

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Thursday, Dec 2, 2004

Mr. David Anderson: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

You would have seen the business plan because you're one of the two organizations that's funded the FRCC from its beginning. I guess I want to talk a little bit about that.

We were told last week that you put $30,000 into the FRCC. Is that the total commitment you've made to that?


Mr. Ian McCreary: If you go back through the six-year time period since the farmers took over the governance of the Canadian Wheat Board, the total is $135,000 that we have provided—$85,000 of that was in the form of a grant initially, and $50,000 in total has been through repayable loans in the event that the FRCC's proposal is successful. If that is not, we would recognize the forgiveness of that loan.

blah blah blah

Mr. David Anderson: Excuse me, but the government never made a commitment to turn them over to the railways, so the money that was saved wasn't really saved. This is interesting, because we were told last week it was $30,000 and now we find out it's $135,000. I don't know of any farmers who knew that this happened.

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Monday, February 7, 2005


Mr. Dave Batters: Gentlemen, the FRCC has been trying to obtain this fleet for some time. It's been a long, arduous process. We have talked about that privately. Who has financed the FRCC through this long process?


Mr. Jim Robbins: First of all, members have financed the FRCC. There are 17 members and all of them have contributed financially, in one fashion or another. We have also received some assistance from the Government of Saskatchewan. These are loans. If we do obtain the fleets, it would be necessary for us to pay these back through our business operations. We've also obtained loans and a small amount of grant money from the Canadian Wheat Board, as was discussed earlier.


Mr. Sinclair Harrison: And western diversification.


Mr. Jim Robbins: Oh, and the federal western economic diversification program has lent us money as well.


Mr. Dave Batters: You have already alluded to the fact that the Government of Saskatchewan has contributed significantly. The Canadian Wheat Board last week gave the FRCC a sum of $25,000. That's in addition to a previous grant of $85,000, and add that to a previous loan of $50,000. So we're at $160,000 from the Wheat Board, which will be repaid if you are successful.

But I think everyone in this room would like to know what happens if you're not successful. Why would our producers, who must market board grains through the Canadian Wheat Board, be on the hook for this money? Why are the Canadian Wheat Board and Government of Saskatchewan engaged in picking and financing favourite horses in this race?"

Get working you yokels.

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[Incognito]

Not to worry Parsley, I found the farmers:

Quote:
http://www.cwb.ca/en/about/index.jsp

Single desk selling -Instead of competing against one another for sales, Western Canada's 85,000 wheat and barley farmers sell as one through the CWB and can therefore command a higher return for their grain.

UNQUOTE

The phantom farmers only appear every two years depending on the District they are required in...lol