Ontario MP Bruce Stanton has introduced a private member’s bill to end the Canadian Wheat Board’s single-desk marketing authority.
Bill C-619 would give farmers the ability to “opt out” of having to market their wheat and barley destined for export or domestic human consumption through the CWB for at least two years at a time. They’d have to declare their intentions between January 1 and April 1. That would give farmers marketing choice while retaining predictability and stability for farmers who choose to remain in the CWB pool, Stanton said in a news release.
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“The barley and wheat that is produced by the hard-working farmers of Western Canada is a product of their own labour and investment on their own land, yet, they have no say as to how it is marketed or at what price,” Stanton said. “This is fundamentally unfair to today’s western farmers who have never had the freedom to market their product as they wish.”
Stanton said he tabled C-619 instead of a Western MP because the introduction of private member’s bills is done through a lottery and it was his turn.
Opposition MPs say the chances of the bill passing are almost nil.
Liberal Agriculture Critic Wayne Easter accused the government of playing games with C-619.
“It’s so far down the list (of private member’s bills) it won’t see the light of day if there isn’t an election for three more years,” he said. “The bill is going nowhere on parliamentary procedure alone.”
If it ever gets to a free vote C-619 will be defeated, Easter said. Instead of the government introducing a bill it knows will be defeated, it gets a private member to do it, he said.
“It leaves the impression he’s (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) doing something for his base when he’s really doing nothing at all.”
The same strategy was used with the gun control issue and it’s good for fundraising, Easter said.
“The Conservative Party of Canada can say, ‘look we’re going to the wall fighting the fight for you send us money we need it now.’”
The minority Conservative government tried to end single-desk selling for barley in 2007 through a cabinet order, but the courts overturned it concluding under the current CWB Act such a move needs to be approved by Parliament.
A government bill to end single-desk selling for barley introduced in March 2008 was never debated and died on the order paper when Harper called the 2008 election.
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“It’ssofardown thelist(ofprivate member’sbills)it won’tseethelight ofdayifthereisn’t anelectionforthree moreyears.”
WAYNE EASTER
