CWB Reform; What do YOU Need?

[TOM4CWB]

Hi guys.

I am supposed to report back within one Month to MP Leon Benoit;

With a short term plan (1yr.); what we need to happen at the CWB.

A long term plan(5yrs) of where you would need the CWB to become would be a further recommendation.

Then we need to do the same for the Canadian Grain Commission.

Further; for the Ag Policy Framework (CASP)

WOuld really appreciate the help on consultations.

Finally;

Please respect the Government's platform on CWB marketing: a CWB that allows marketing choice... including the option to sell to the CWB itself voluntarily.

THANKS!

I would break it do

[TOM4CWB]

Sorry; "I would break it do"wn into 2 different areas... got lost below my posting screen area... didn't see it before I posted!

[ALLFARMER]

For me the ability to sell malt directly to maltsters. If when I deliver it they reject it I'll roll back the tarp and say thanks & good day, I'll keep it then! This is what happens all the time with other grains Ex. Canola (to green, to tough) Oats (not heavy enough, not the right color,) It always amazes me how crop quality improves when you tell the grain company I'll close the tarp and keep it. New flower mills & pasta plants on the prairies would'nt hurt.

With the Wheat Board truely having to work to get our grain & The American debt crisis (farm subsidies will have to fall) Things could possibly turn around for the grain farmer. possibly!

[silverback]

I said it before, but can we get a full, independent audit of the past 5 - 10 years?

If there is nothing found - great! I will think that is money well spent.

However, if something is rotten ....

I have a hard time just changing the way the game is played without having a trust of the guys running it.

[briant]

1. We need to quit putting our domestic processors at a disadvantage, they need to be able to buy any grains and benifit from locating grain processing facilities on the praries. ie malt plants etc.
2. We need proper price signals so that the domestic industry does not hold us captive. ie the feeding industry.
3. We need to be reliable suppliers of consisitent top quality wheat to some customers. ie Japan
4.We arbitrage between the US and Canadian Markets
5. We need to find a way to become more efficient at moving grain to export position ie. Justice Estay report
6. We need to CWB to move to more business like contracts.
7.We need to find a way to suport our sales.This means market development, and credit terms and such.
8.We need to find ways of working together with other grain industry partners to build a vibrant grain industry that adds value to the Canadian economy and builds a healthier land.

[TOM4CWB]

Thanks Guys!

I hope many more Ideas... I can take some from your threads Charlie... if that is OK?

Can you and Lee work something up Charlie?

[melvill]

I try to stay out of the pro- and against-CWB debate because it kinda reminds me of a very vigorous discussion I actually heard on a bus full of international visitors once: which is a better religion - Christianity or Islam?

However, let’s do some brainstorming. I’ll start.

One of the things I'd like to see from the Board is greater transparency in a number of areas. Perhaps one way to do that would be to have a number of non-director permit book holders that have special access to the internal decision-making process so they could "watch and listen to" what's going on. They would have the ability to report what they saw to other permit book holders in general but would not be allowed to provide intimate details that would threaten required business "secrecy". The idea is that these special permit book holder-watchers would act as permit book advocates with the ability to report on what they saw. The other side of that would be that there would be significant penalties if these individuals reported information that threated business relationships. Maybe they could be something like shareholder advocates in the public company world.

Okay, now it others’ turn to add to the brainstorm.

[chaffmeister]

Interesting idea, Lee.

A couple of years ago I suggested to an official in Reg Alcock's office that they needed to appoint an independent "CWB Monitor". This person would have complete and unfettered access to all CWB activities and records. He/she would report on a regular basis to the Minister Responsible (Alcock at the time) about sales negotiations and prices (including competitors prices), marketing performance, detailed background on public statements by the CWB, independent details on unusual situations (like shiiping grain from Churchill to Vancouver), etc. Nothing would be made public because of confidentiality requirements - but the Minister would have a clear vision of what was going on. In addition, this person would act as ombusdman for producers who have specific issues with the way the CWB is dealing with them; frustrated farmers would have a built-in support mechanism totally independent from the CWB working for them.

Periodic public statements - both good and bad - could be made but again, protecting anything confidential.

Alcock's official thought it was a good idea but felt that the CWB should be the one hiring this Monitor/Ombudsman - the Minister's office didn't have the budget for it.

And yes, I did offer my services.

[parsley]

You really didn't expect that your application would beat out Avis Gray's did you?

You are asking for patchwork fixes.

You've forgotten the point. This is about me being able to sell what I grow without being put in jail.

Parsly

[melvill]

Hey, I like the idea of an ombudsman or ombudsmen. Call them what you like but. . . .

Seems to me that more and more public companies have one to deal with disgruntled customers. Ombudsmen with strong investigative powers but not answering to the BODs.

[chaffmeister]

Parsley:

Don't mix things up - the Monitor/Ombusdman is not an Avis Grey position - quite and absolutely the contrary. I'm thinking of a watchdog - with teeth - looking for answers. A pit bull that the CWB can't shake. The one thing missing in your arguments with the CWB is the real facts - the CWB is continually allowed to present to the govt, the media, the public - anything it wants to, without any scrutiny. If the CWB is really lying (or misrepresenting things) - and I don't know for certain that it is - it certainly would serve your purposes as a farmer looking for policy change (export licensing) to cut through all the BS.

If the Cons govt is looking to change things with respect to the CWB, it needs facts. Under the current situation, I don't think it'll get them.

[silverback]

Parsley said it well.

Allow farmers to make mistakes or success with the products grown on their own property.

Of course the question then is, when do we get property rights?

[parsley]

So chaffmeister, a monotor-omnbudsman is hired to do the job. A guard to watch the guard. And paid well. Kind of like the Ethics Commissioner that investigated Dingwall?

You should know that a well paid appointment often brings mirrors the answers the guy writing his cheque wants to hear.

Either the CWB or the Government would be paying the bill.

Pick your poison.

Parsley

[parsley]

silverback

Propertry rights is what we need so that a 'havenot Ligslovania', in a futuristic world, cannot expropriate personal property.

Any suggestions silverback?

Parsley

[parsley]

melvill.

Farmers are not 'disgruntled customers', (maybe Russia is, if they cannot pay off their loan).

The CWB works FOR farmers. Isn't that what we are told?

Parsley