A former federal agriculture minister has put forward a bill to stretch the arm in the arm’s-length relationship between the Canadian Wheat Board and federal government.
Regina-area Liberal MP Ralph Goodale on Wednesday got first reading for a bill calling for “increased democratic producer control” of the CWB.
“Our original changes, more than a decade ago, were on the right track, but it’s time to reinforce democratic producer control over the CWB,” said Goodale, who served as the former Liberal government’s minister in charge of the CWB from 1993 to 2003.
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That’s especially so “in light of recent legal arguments which misinterpret the real meaning of those original amendments and in light of the current government’s hostile attitude toward the CWB and its incessant campaign to destroy it,” Goodale, currently the Liberals’ House leader, said in a release.
The CWB since 1999 has been run by a 15-person board: 10 farmer-elected farmer/directors, four named by the federal government, and the CWB’s CEO, also a government appointee.
Goodale’s Bill C-548, introduced as a private member’s bill amending the Canadian Wheat Board Act, proposes to “increase the influence of western farmers in selecting independent, outside directors to serve on the CWB’s board of directors and correspondingly reduce the role of the federal government.”
To that end, the bill proposes to allow the elected directors to choose two of the four appointed directors, while the government would pick the other two.
The bill would also require that before any legislation can be introduced to change the CWB’s single-desk marketing authority for Prairie wheat or barley, the CWB’s directors would need to be consulted, their approval obtained and a “fully democratic vote” held among grain producers on the specific change being proposed.
“Authority to meddle”
Goodale’s amendments also propose to limit the government’s “power to direct” CWB affairs to matters that specifically involve the board’s taxpayer-backed financial guarantees or Canada’s international trade obligations.
Section 18 of the current CWB Act grants the government the power to give “directions” to the Board, Goodale said.
However, he contended, the current Conservative government “believes Section 18 gives it broad authority to meddle in the day-to-day management of the CWB.”
The bill would also require the government and/or the minister in charge of the CWB to consult “more closely” with the board in exercising its powers, and in some cases, to obtain the board’s approval or consent in advance.
As the basis for the bill, Goodale cited a recent CWB-backed farmer survey which he said shows nearly 80 per cent of Prairie grain growers support more democratic producer control over the wheat board.
Private members’ bills only rarely get past the House of Commons to become law and it’s not yet known how much support C-548 could expect from the Liberals, New Democrats or Bloc Quebecois.
All three opposition parties have made clear their support for the CWB’s single desk, however, which currently trumps any proposals from the minority Conservative government to deregulate the marketing of board grains.
