Canada: CWB board of directors launch legal action against federal government

The CWB's farmer-controlled board of directors announced on October, 26 that legal action will be launched against the federal government in defence of Prairie farmers' democratic rights.

"The Harper government has acted illegally and unethically in its attacks on the Canadian Wheat Board, and it must be stopped," said board chair Allen Oberg, a farmer from Forestburg, Alberta. "As it charges ahead, the government is mowing down everything in its way. The casualties will be democracy, due process, Parliamentary debate and Canada's agricultural economy.

"We have no choice but to take this last stand on behalf of farmers. We will not be intimidated by bullies."

The lawsuit, filed on October, 26 in federal court, states the government broke the law when it introduced Bill C-18 on Oct. 18 because it did not first conduct a plebiscite of affected producers, as required by Section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act, which remains in force. Almost 40,000 producers participated in a CWB-run plebiscite over the summer, with 62 per cent voting to retain the single-desk marketing system for wheat.

"Not only is this government ignoring farmers' wishes, it plans to fire the 10 directors who are elected directly by farmers to run the CWB," Oberg said. "If it can remove a democratically elected board - simply because we disagree with them - Canadians should ask themselves who's next on their hit list. If they can ram this important legislation through Parliament by limiting debate, where does it end?

"A majority government does not confer absolute power or create a dictatorship. Winning a majority of seats in the House of Commons does not bestow the right to sidestep rules created by previous governments in the interests of fairness, democracy and due process."

Oberg said he refuses to give up and "bow to the inevitable" as some have suggested.

"We will continue to do everything in our power to fight back against bullying by the federal government. This is not about saving the CWB. This is about farmers being allowed to decide for themselves whether they want this type of grain-marketing structure. All the evidence shows that they do."

Oberg said removing the CWB single-desk would harm Canada's agricultural economy by transferring profits and power to large, foreign-owned grain corporations.

"Judge this action by who it will benefit," he said. "Canada is the last country on earth where huge multinationals cannot source wheat and barley. When the CWB is gone, that will change. Western Canadian wheat will be added to the corporate inventory, while Prairie farmers lose the benefits of being direct sellers.

"The Americans will finally win what they been fighting to get for decades. And Canada will receive nothing in return."

Oberg added that there is no business case for eliminating the CWB single-desk.

"The CWB has served farmers faithfully and well," he said. "It does a good job and most farmers want to keep it. So what is the logic of transferring control over wheat marketing from Prairie farmers to global corporations? Why is the government so eager to rip the CWB apart, in a mad rush that precludes solid economic analysis, fair consultation and careful deliberation?

"This kind of behaviour ought to concern more than the farmers of Western Canada. It should raise alarm bells for us all."

Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. One of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less operating costs, to farmers.

28 October, 2011