The Liberal M.P. for Wascana, Ralph Goodale, says an impartial, independent institution like the University of Saskatchewan should create a top-notch monitoring agency to track and report on grain marketing realities in western Canada in the wake of the Harper government’s abolition of the Canadian Wheat Board’s “single-desk” marketing system.
“Farmers have been assured they’ll be better off in an open market,” said Goodale. “But there will be no way to measure whether that’s really true unless some credible, competent entity is actually following the outcomes in detail from day-one.”
Barring a last minute court decision, single-desk marketing for western wheat and barley will soon be gone – without a producer vote, without meaningful debate in Parliament, without a cost-benefit analysis having been done in advance, and without a coherent business plan to guide the change process.
“This is an unprecedented amount of change, and grain producers are going to need a reliable source of sound data and analysis about the post-CWB situation,” Goodale said. “Clearly this government cannot be counted on to behave in a fair and democratic manner, so someone else with the necessary expertise needs to come to the plate.”
The former Wheat Board Minister listed a number of questions that need answering:
- Are there adequate price-discovery mechanisms available and functioning?
- Taken together, are wheat and barley producers getting more or less in total returns per tonne from an open market?
- In the absence of a single-desk system, what is the risk premium extracted by the federal departments of Agriculture and Finance in setting initial payments for the entity that succeeds the CWB?
- What check-offs are going to be deducted from grain payments, where will that money go and who is accountable?
- What carrying costs will have to be paid by private grain companies to finance grain payments to farmers upon delivery, which were previously financed for those grain companies by the CWB at Government of Canada interest rates?
- How does the quality and cost of services provided to producer-owned terminals, community-based short-line rail operations, and producer-loaded rail cars compare to service standards before the elimination of the single-desk?
- • Is there a practical vehicle available to farmers to challenge grain companies or railways on service levels or costs?
This is only a sample listing. Other issues will no doubt emerge.
“The University of Saskatchewan is one of the few organizations that can provide the necessary monitoring, measurement, analysis and reporting around questions like these,” Goodale said.
“It has well-known and well-respected in-house expertise and competence. It also has the credibility to act independently and tell the unvarnished truth, providing a valuable public service.”
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CONTACT:
Ralph Goodale’s Constituency Office
(306) 585-2202
Scott Bardsley, Communications Manager
(613) 996-4743
