Green Party blasts Harper for continued Wheat Board interference

GRANDVIEW, MB - The Green Party of Canada today called on the Conservative government to stop hurting western Canadian farmers. The government has deliberately set an artificially low initial price for western Canadian wheat sold through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).

“We are shocked that Prime Minister Harper is deliberately withholding money from wheat farmers while he plays petty political games.” said Kate Storey, Agriculture critic for the Green Party. “The Harper government set a low initial price against the recommendation of CWB market analysis and has refused to raise it. The initial price now stands at less than 40 per cent of the world price.”

Because it controls all bread quality wheat, the CWB is able to capture higher world prices more often than farmers could get by selling individually. The farmer is paid an initial price when the grain is delivered, followed by the remainder at the end of the year. The initial price is set by the federal government, usually at 75 per cent of the final expected price.

“This year, a world food shortage due to the huge new demand for biofuel crops spurred a sharp increase in the price of wheat,” said Ms. Storey. “The CWB has repeatedly requested that the initial price be raised in response to the new markets, but these requests have fallen on the deaf ears of Mr. Harper.

“Mr. Harper has shown his complete disregard for farmers with his attempts to dismantle the CWB and his continued meddling. Farmers need cash in the fall as bills become due and plans are made for the next growing season,” said Storey. “Farmers cannot afford to wait for income while Mr. Harper tries to impose his anti-cooperative ideology.”

“The Green Party of Canada commends the CWB for lobbying on farmer’s behalf to raise the initial price,” said Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party. “We denounce the Harper government for his petty anti-CWB tactics and willingness to sacrifice the family farm.”

Backgrounder

The CWB is a cooperative marketing organization that sells Western Canadian wheat and barley. It is supported by the majority of farmers because it allows smaller or more distant farmers to get the same market opportunities as larger, closer farms.
The open market discriminates against smaller farmers because grain companies prefer to make a few large grain deals rather than doing the paperwork required for many small grain deals. They also prefer to deal with farmers closer to port as the travel costs are less.

Bread is the “staff-of-life” and wheat from the Canadian prairies is of unusually high quality and in high world demand.

To maintain food security, the Canadian government retains control of the wheat board. The Government appoints the CEO and 5 out of 15 CWB directors and sets the initial price. Parliament has ultimate responsibility for the CWB.

Prime Minister Harper is ideologically opposed to cooperative initiatives, preferring to let the biggest and strongest prosper while smaller farmers suffer. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This results in an increasing concentration of farm ownership, a move to transnational food control and a reduction in diversity in all aspects of food production.

Harper has been trying to get rid of the CWB since last fall. Over the past year, he has:
• Issued a gag order to prevent the CWB from defending or explaining its operations.
• Replaced CWB directors and fired the CEO to attempt to gain control of the CWB.
• Interfered in the election of farmer-appointed CWB directors by removing 36% of eligible voters from the CWB voters list in the middle of the CWB director election.
• Manipulated a plebiscite on barley by offering a biased question and by misrepresenting the results.
• Disrupted orderly marketing by illegally removing barley from CWB control at a disruptive time of year. This was declared illegal in a Supreme Court decision on July 31, 2007, Canadian farmers versus the Harper government.

Farmers are quickly turning against the Conservative government. They are worried that a Conservative majority will mean the end to all farm support programs.