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Why Should I Sell Your Wheat?

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

Why Should I Sell Your Wheat? Pierre Trudeau uttered his famous "Why should I sell your wheat?" quote decades ago, but this observation is becoming relevant once again. The Harper government is determined to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on wheat and barley sales in the West and allow farmers to sell their grain to the highest bidder. In this day of international free trade, it seems only natural that all farmers should have freedom of choice enjoyed outside of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and part of B.C. Many Canadians believe that the Wheat Board was formed by farmers with the intent of securing better prices for their crops. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Wheat Board was formed in 1935 because the three wheat pools operating in a free market in the 1920s had made some very bad decisions by refusing to sell 50 million bushels of wheat, hoping to drive up prices. This did not work and the 1929 stock market crash ruined the pools and threatened the prairie economy. The government then formed the Wheat Board to sell the wheat. In the wartime 1940s, the Liberal government gave the board a monopoly to keep the price of wheat low. After the war, they extended the monopoly to sell low cost wheat to war-ravaged Britain with no federal aid to farmers, which cost prairie farmers millions in lost revenue. In the 1960s the monopoly became permanent and has remained so, but only in the West. In short, the Wheat Board was not formed to get farmers better prices. It also operates in secrecy and is exempt from Canada's freedom of information laws. Who wants to keep the Wheat Board monopoly? Its employees, of course, who are well paid (by the farmers). The provincial NDP parties obviously like monopolies and are supporting a shadow group called "Friends of the Wheat Board" made up of farmers and city people of obviously the same political persuasion. This group has taken the federal government to court over the vote to end the monopoly on barley, and was given $20,000 by Manitoba and $30,000 by Saskatchewan to aid in their court fight. Many consider this to be a waste of tax money and particularly ironic for Saskatchewan, which continues to howl about oil revenue being factored into their transfer payments. Unlike Manitoba, which is happily in the "have-not" province status and depends on transfer payments, Saskatchewan cannot accept being a "have province." Its government wants more money to spend so it can try and stave off an almost certain defeat in the next election. The vote on ending the barley monopoly was 62 per cent in favour - a substantial majority - but the Wheat Board and its followers do not accept the result. A significant number of farmers even voted to completely eliminate the Wheat Board, never mind opening it to competition. This is especially true of the large growers who raise most of the barley and the wheat. They are looking forward to making a lot more money as barley prices are continuing to rise. A number of large grain farmers in Manitoba are planting barley again in anticipation of the ending of the monopoly this summer. What about the federal Liberals? Stephane Dion, who will attach himself to anything opposing the Tories, has promised to maintain the Wheat Board monopoly if his party is elected. This will mean that his native Quebecers and farmers in Ontario will be free to sell their grain to anyone, but westerners will not be. Is this fair? Ask farmer Andy McMechan. He spent over five months in prison back in 1995. His crime? He tried to sell his barley to the U.S. for $6 a bushel instead of the $3 the Wheat Board was paying. For this he became a criminal. It makes you wonder why this outdated Wheat Board has any friends. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.

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