Report from Parliament's Hill - Mar. 8th - Opinion 250 - News for Northern and Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada

Report from Parliament's Hill - Mar. 8th

By Prince George - Peace River M.P. Jay Hill

Thursday, March 08, 2007 03:44 AM

Giving Farmers A Say on the Future of the Canadian Wheat Board

Our Conservative Government has introduced many policies and legislative proposals to enhance the ability of Canadians to have their voices heard in Ottawa. Our latest initiative is specific to western grain farmers.

We are making good on our promise to provide freedom of choice to western grain farmers by giving them a vote on the future direction of the Canadian Wheat Board. The 2007 Barley Plebiscite is currently underway with a voting deadline of March 13th.

In years past, western grain farmers have actually been jailed for pursuing marketing opportunities outside the CWB. Other Canadian farmers who produce canola, pulse crops, apples, cattle and other farm products enjoy marketing freedom. Our government believes western grain farmers should also be able to choose how they market their products.

Each “active farming entity” which has produced grain during the past year and has produced barley in at least one of the last five years, is eligible to vote in the plebiscite. Each farming entity - a single producer, partnership, or corporation - gets one vote.

Our government is not advocating the end of the CWB We want to preserve it as a strong, viable, yet voluntary entity. The CWB will be there to serve farmers in the future and an end to its monopoly on barley won’t change that.

Farmers will have three options on the Barley Plebiscite ballot.

The first choice allows producers to support the CWB’s current status, indicating they are happy with the returns the CWB provides.

The second choice allows farmers to indicate their desire to sell to the CWB OR to seize opportunities outside the Board. Farmers could continue with the CWB or access it when they need it, without preventing someone else from pursuing a good opportunity.

The third choice allows farmers to express that the CWB should “close shop” and that there should be an open market for barley sales.

As an opposition MP, I fought long and hard to bring democracy to the CWB through elected directors. Once we were in government, my colleagues and I have acted quickly to make the CWB even more accountable to farmers. The Board is now subject to the Access to Information Act so that farmers can scrutinize the CWB’s $70-million in annual administrative costs without compromising commercially sensitive information.

Our initiative to give farmers the ability to vote on the CWB’s future has captured the support of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, the Western Barley Growers Association and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, among others.

I know there are producers who don’t support the government’s proposals for the CWB. As a former grain farmer, I had many debates with my fellow producers on this very subject.

Yet the purpose of the Barley Plebiscite is to give farmers the opportunity to have their say. Agree or disagree with our government on this issue, I encourage all farmers to seize this opportunity and cast your ballot. Your vote is your voice!

Please vote by the March 13th deadline. For more information, please contact the 2007 Barley Plebiscite Information Centre at www.2007barleyvote.ca or 1-888-322-7539.

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