Ritz to table legislation end monopoly today
By Bruce Johnstone, Leader-Post October 17, 2011 6:06 PM
On a family farm near Acme, Alta., Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made it official. The federal government will introduce legislation in Parliament today to eliminate the single desk — the legislated monopoly granted during the Second World War to the Canadian Wheat Board to market western wheat and barley grown for human consumption.
“We intend to table legislation tomorrow that, when passed, will give farmers marketing freedom. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently, not only do we intend to introduce this legislation, but our government intends to pass this legislation very quickly,” Ritz told cheering farmers at a news conference.
“Let me be clear, the Harper government intends to pass this historic legislation by the end of this calendar year.’’ The government intends to eliminate the single desk, effective Aug. 1, 2012.
Calling the nearly seven-decade-old Canadian Wheat Board monopoly “yesterday’s solution to yesterday’s problems,’’ Ritz said the Harper government has a mandate from Western Canadian farmers to eliminate the single desk, noting the Conservatives won every rural riding in Western Canada in the May 2 election.
“Farmers and the markets need clarity and certainty that marketing freedom and an open market is still on the horizon,’’ added Ritz.
But Allen Oberg, chair of the CWB, said the Harper government has created chaos and confusion in the agricultural industry by pushing through legislation to remove the single desk, without consulting with farmers, industry players, like bakers and millers, and the CWB itself.
“The Canadian grain industry is on the brink of a major upheaval,’’ Oberg told a news conference in Winnipeg Monday. “Legislation will soon be tabled to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board.’’
Oberg said the Harper government has refused to meet with the CWB to discuss the six requirements for its survival following the removal of the single desk, including $225 million for working capital and to finance grain inventories and another $200 million to replace the government guarantees for initial payments.
“This government has no plan. It has done no analysis. It has not even consulted farmers. Its approach is based solely on a blind commitment to a sound-bite phrase, called marketing freedom,’’ Oberg told reporters. “Yet here we are barrelling ahead on a timeline that will rip apart a 75-year-old marketing system in a matter of months and hamper any potential successor organization.”
Not only is the Harper government refusing to meet with the CWB, Oberg said it is refusing to discuss the impact of the removal of the CWB’s monopoly on the grain industry, citing concerns about the lack of a transition plan by the Baking Association of Canada and Canadian National Millers Association.
“This government’s reckless approach will throw Canada’s grain industry into disarray. It will jeopardize the $5-billion export sector. And it will shift money away from the pockets of Canadian farmers and into the hands of Canadian corporations,’’ Oberg said, citing studies showing the CWB generates a $500-million premium for Western farmers.
Oberg said CWB’s 15-member board of directors will meet next week to discuss a plan of action following the tabling of the legislation. “And we’re going to explore every legal avenue of opportunity that’s available to us,’’ he said, noting the government’s plan to remove the single desk without a producer plebiscite is illegal under Section 47 of the current Canadian Wheat Board Act.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Ritz table legislation monopoly today/5563738/story.html#ixzz1b611O8IO
By Bruce Johnstone, Leader-Post October 17, 2011 6:06 PM
On a family farm near Acme, Alta., Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made it official. The federal government will introduce legislation in Parliament today to eliminate the single desk — the legislated monopoly granted during the Second World War to the Canadian Wheat Board to market western wheat and barley grown for human consumption.
“We intend to table legislation tomorrow that, when passed, will give farmers marketing freedom. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently, not only do we intend to introduce this legislation, but our government intends to pass this legislation very quickly,” Ritz told cheering farmers at a news conference.
“Let me be clear, the Harper government intends to pass this historic legislation by the end of this calendar year.’’ The government intends to eliminate the single desk, effective Aug. 1, 2012.
Calling the nearly seven-decade-old Canadian Wheat Board monopoly “yesterday’s solution to yesterday’s problems,’’ Ritz said the Harper government has a mandate from Western Canadian farmers to eliminate the single desk, noting the Conservatives won every rural riding in Western Canada in the May 2 election.
“Farmers and the markets need clarity and certainty that marketing freedom and an open market is still on the horizon,’’ added Ritz.
But Allen Oberg, chair of the CWB, said the Harper government has created chaos and confusion in the agricultural industry by pushing through legislation to remove the single desk, without consulting with farmers, industry players, like bakers and millers, and the CWB itself.
“The Canadian grain industry is on the brink of a major upheaval,’’ Oberg told a news conference in Winnipeg Monday. “Legislation will soon be tabled to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board.’’
Oberg said the Harper government has refused to meet with the CWB to discuss the six requirements for its survival following the removal of the single desk, including $225 million for working capital and to finance grain inventories and another $200 million to replace the government guarantees for initial payments.
“This government has no plan. It has done no analysis. It has not even consulted farmers. Its approach is based solely on a blind commitment to a sound-bite phrase, called marketing freedom,’’ Oberg told reporters. “Yet here we are barrelling ahead on a timeline that will rip apart a 75-year-old marketing system in a matter of months and hamper any potential successor organization.”
Not only is the Harper government refusing to meet with the CWB, Oberg said it is refusing to discuss the impact of the removal of the CWB’s monopoly on the grain industry, citing concerns about the lack of a transition plan by the Baking Association of Canada and Canadian National Millers Association.
“This government’s reckless approach will throw Canada’s grain industry into disarray. It will jeopardize the $5-billion export sector. And it will shift money away from the pockets of Canadian farmers and into the hands of Canadian corporations,’’ Oberg said, citing studies showing the CWB generates a $500-million premium for Western farmers.
Oberg said CWB’s 15-member board of directors will meet next week to discuss a plan of action following the tabling of the legislation. “And we’re going to explore every legal avenue of opportunity that’s available to us,’’ he said, noting the government’s plan to remove the single desk without a producer plebiscite is illegal under Section 47 of the current Canadian Wheat Board Act.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Ritz table legislation monopoly today/5563738/story.html#ixzz1b611O8IO
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