Pointing the finger at the feds
By Bruce Johnstone,
Leader-Post February 28, 2014
REGINA — There’s plenty of blame to go around when looking for those responsible for the $5-billion backlog in the grainhandling system.
The railways, for putting the interests of their shareholders ahead of their customers. The grain companies, for failing to anticipate the increased demand on grain handling system created by the largest crop in Canadian history. The government, for failing to ensure that both the railways and the grain companies lived up to their obligations under federal legislation.
But if you’re looking for the architects of the gigantic schemozzle that has left much of the record 2013 crop in grain bins, elevators or in farmers’ fields, look no further than the Harper government.
First of all, it was the Harperites who moved with lightning speed to eliminate the single desk marketing authority of the Canadian Wheat Board, the legislated monopoly over western wheat and barley export sales that existed for nearly 80 years. One of the consequences of the dismantling of the single desk was the removal of the CWB’s role in logistics — moving the $5 billion to $6 billion worth of grain produced in Western Canada every year to export markets.
But in their ideologically driven haste to bring “marketing freedom’’ to western farmers, the Harperites conveniently ignored the warnings of farmers, academics and the industry that such a wrenching change would require several years, if not decades, of transition.
Back in 2006, University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Murray Fulton warned about the consequences of removing the single desk powers of the CWB. Specifically, Fulton raised concern about the loss of the marketing clout and logistical expertise of the CWB.
“The removal of the CWB’s single-desk selling powers will fundamentally transform the Canadian grain handling and transportation system … These changes include a shift in marketing power towards the grain companies and the railways, a loss of political power for farmers, and modifications to transportation policy.”
Eight years later Fulton’s words seem eerily prophetic as we enter year two of “marketing freedom.’’ While Fulton says getting rid of the single desk isn’t the only cause of the problems in grain transportation, it certainly has exacerbated them.
“It’s the perfect storm,’’ Fulton said, referring to the abnormally cold weather and an abnormally large crop, combined with a grain handling system that’s out of control like a runaway train and a government that, in the words of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, is “loath to regulate.’’
While Fulton doesn’t claim any prescience in predicting the dire consequences of eliminating the single desk, the results are there for all to see.
For example, Premier Brad Wall is now calling for grain companies to ship their Canadian grain south using U.S. railways to remove the grain backlog. The problem is U.S. railways are not bound by the revenue cap as CN and CP are. That means farmers paying freight rates that are twice as high as Canadian rates.
So let’s get rid of the revenue cap, as some farm groups, like the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, are suggesting. Having given the railways a slap on the wrist for not moving grain, the feds are now supposed to give them the keys to the candy store and charge whatever they want to move Canada’s grain to port?
Wall also called on Ottawa to legislate service agreements between the railways and grain companies to ease the grain backlog. But as Deputy Leader Leader Ralph Goodale points out, the Harper government rejected amendments to the Rail Service Review legislation that would have done just that.
“Clearly, there’s not enough grain handling and transportation capacity to move a better-than-average crop in a timely manner. No one is co-ordinating the efficient use of prairie delivery points, car allocations, rail shipment, terminal utilization and ship movements,’’ Goodale said in recent commentary.
Sounds like a job for … the CWB, as Fulton noted in his 2006 study.
“Since the CWB has control over all export grain from Western Canada, it can often negotiate better freight rates than could a number of grain companies acting independently. Similarly, the CWB is in a position to negotiate better service terms from the railways.”
Unfortunately, those days are gone and, thanks to the Harper government, they’re never coming back.
© Copyright (c) Leader-Post
Emperor’s new clothes
by: Ron Watson
The emperor’s new grain marketing clothes have now been exposed for the hot air they were “woven” from.
Farmer opportunity to contract or deliver wheat is unequal or non-existent, and wheat prices have fallen by 50% putting them well under both U.S. and world prices.
Don’t let the emperor and his courtiers tell you that the answer is to give more money to the railways. The railways are already overpaid at least $175 million by farmers every year. Giving them more money is simply spinning more invisible clothes.
For farm families everyday is family day
Editor’s note: (February17) On Family Day we are printing this article to honour those farm families who contribute so much to Canadian society and the legacy their forbearers created.
by Murray Hidlebaugh
(Feb 17/2014) Grain farmers on the prairies are rediscovering their ability to work together and with others for a common cause. That cause is remedying the erosion of their democratic rights by a central government catering to demands from transnational corporations intent on expanding their control of the food system. The most public manifestation of this was the refusal of the federal government to allow farmers to vote on whether they supported the retention of the Canadian Wheat Board single desk marketing system. There was considerable evidence that the vast majority of prairie grain farmers supported single desk marketing. So the government went ahead and dismantled it without a plebiscite. Other, less public issues that farmers find themselves pitted against the government are on grower’s rights and seed patenting, on grain handling and transportation, and on pricing.
This is not new. Farmers found themselves in a similar struggle in the early part of the 20th century. Banks were repossessing the farms of many who were unable to repay their loans when grain prices were lower than the cost of production. Freight rates were rising and service was declining. A growing number of farmers decided that since they couldn’t influence government they would become a political force. The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) entered the political arena in 1919. UFA candidates captured all but two of the Alberta federal seats in the 1921 federal election. In 1929 the UFA joined with the Labour Party and other political groups that lead to founding of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in July, 1933.
There was much hardship and frustration among the unemployed in the “Dirty thirties”. In 1935, the “On to Ottawa” march and reaction to its brutal suppression in Regina was a start of grass roots push back against the establishment. Push back lead to the establishment of the Canadian Wheat Board in 1935. It was established as an agricultural marketing board charged with the orderly marketing of western grains. The system worked well and the farm economy improved after World War II with many veterans returning to participate in relatively profitable farming.
However, by the early 1970s corporate pressure started to negatively impact the farm economy. Input prices were increasing and grain prices were decreasing. In the 1980s farmers were told that globalization and free trade markets would solve their growing debt problem. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect with high expectations that agricultural issues would be solved. Many farmers believed it even though David Orchard, a Saskatchewan farmer and politician, provided compelling research that there were real concerns that people should try to understand. Of particular concern, he noted, was Chapter Seven Section A – Agriculture that targeted the dismantling of farmer controlled marketing boards, and Chapter Seventeen: Intellectual Property that would lead to loss of the ability of farmers to control seed genetics. The supporters of the NAFTA dismissed his arguments as being out of touch with reality and farmer freedom of choice was going to be enshrined by their entry into a so-called free market.
However, current assessments by some agricultural researchers would indicate that in fact Orchard’s assessment was quite accurate. The research states,
“While income for farmers is on the decline, food prices continue to rise. The results over the years have shown that NAFTA undermines our sovereignty and has weakened local governments’ ability to make decisions concerning food and agriculture. There desperately needs to be more measures put in place to better protect farmers. Our globalized food system is a complete failure and has served to benefit multinational corporations, at the expense of small independent farmers.” (D. Gabriel)
And here we are again. Farm debt is rising. Farmers are being told they have freedom. Harper has unilaterally dismantled the CWB. And recently he has signed an MOU with the European Union to implement the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Some analysts have described the CETA as the NAFTA on steroids. Terry Boehm , a Saskatchewan farmer and past president of the National Farmers’ Union, has been the leading researcher and spokesman on the CETA. He has warned farmers that under the CETA’s intellectual property-rights articles, corporations will be able to sue farmers for just an “alleged” infringement on seed patents and other related property rights. Before the charges are even taken to court the corporation alleging the infringement will be able to legally freeze the farmer’s assets, including bank accounts, machinery, and grain inventory, as a precautionary measure to ensure payment. In addition to private control of seed and related production, corporations will also be able to challenge farmer controlled marketing boards, food processing and distribution systems, including farmers’ markets and the right to control dumping of agricultural products.
At a meeting to discuss farmer options hosted by the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, Dr. Jim Harding in his presentation noted, “in the 1920’s and 30’s farmers, workers and aboriginals although not natural partners had worked together on common cause.” He reminded the participants that out of this had come the CCF and the CWB that were intended to protect the democratic rights of all and in the latter case specifically farmers. He also noted that Harper had planned to emasculate the CWB by regulation but could not ignore polls indicating that nine farmers out of ten wanted a plebiscite. Farmers wanted to be participants in a democracy that respected their rights to have a real say in their future. What a radical idea to want to have a say in something that directly affect you.
When a similar attack on farmers’ rights occurred in the 1920s farmers organized, formed alliances, and developed structures that worked for a democratic society. The fight then was not without effort and considerable sacrifice by men and women and families. But it lead to a better life for the future generations. The mainstream media and the government of the day called them radical. That time is here again. Men and women farmers who value the right to live in a democracy and who feel that is being eroded can work together again. Past generations have shown what can be done. Together farmers can rebuild the democratic rural system despite the naysayers. Contacting the CWBA and getting involved is a positive opportunity for concerned farmers. You can start by contacting the CWBA.
UPOV 91 – gold for seed companies
– Eric Sagan, Melville, Sask.
I have just received my 2014 Saskatchewan Seed Guide. I have counted approximately 70 different wheat varieties and approximately 24 different barley varieties which are mostly Plant Breeders Rights protected which really means farmers have to pay more
There is also a so called “new” farm organization calling itself “Partners in Innovations.” Upon closer examination this group is hardly anything new. It is just another collection of the same old astro turf farm groups and their industry spokespeople using a new alias. None of their front people has won an open and fair vote to claim to represent farmers.
Why in the world do producers need so many costly private varieties when we as producers only seed one or two varieties at a time? What is wrong with so called farm groups that lobby against democratic producer organizations and push insane farm policy on behalf of seed companies? Why are groups like this out to destroy the publically owned varieties that we have now? These varieties were very common and are slowly being deregistered and replaced with PBR varieties, which farmers will have to pay royalties on.
If Ritz gets Bill C-18 passed, it will put producers under the authority of the UPOV 91 treaty. When that happens if producers do buy their PBR seed not only will they pay a big price when they buy the seed but the seed companies are given rights to collect royalties on the crops that farmers want to sell that are grown from that seed. These “end point royalties” could amount to $1- $4/tonne for the next 20 years on the grain that is harvested! And there is no guarantee that the seed companies will spend these huge windfalls on new development or new varieties. I will bet that most of that money will go to their shareholders. So I guess I just answered my own question about why astro-turf groups are around.
This insane Bill C-18 has to be stopped by producers. They cannot sit idly by anymore and must take action against the federal government by talking, phoning or emailing their MP’s and voicing their opposition to this Bill! Remember your Conservative MP will retire with a fat life-time pension while we and our grandchildren will go on paying for UPOV 91 forever.
Is Farmer Ownership of the CWB another Smokescreen?
By: Dean Allen Harder
Manitoba
With all the smoke from Ag Minister Ritz, it is getting hard to breathe any truth in here.
Now the appointed board of Ritz’s CWB (formerly the Canadian Wheat Board) has finally made a move in this saga known as “a transition towards privatization”. They say they will give farmers a $5 stake in the “new company” for every tonne of wheat they sell through the CWB in the 2013-14 season.
As a farmer, I have to say that I am captivated by the idea that perhaps I will once more be allowed a voice in the operation of the CWB, which I had, only 2 years ago when democratically farmer-elected representatives still ran the former CWB. Does this five dollar fix mean that the Ritz appointees want to finally put control back into the hands of farmers by turning it into a cooperative?
After all the Federal Minister Gerry Ritz also stated: “[The new CWB] could be a business corporation, a producer co-op, or a not-for-profit corporation. The business model will be for the board and farmers to decide.”
Or was this ANOTHER SMOKESCREEN by our Ag Minister?
When you look at it, a $5 share for an entire tonne of grain gives a farmer as much control as playing ‘Roll up the Rim’ at Tim’s.
Sources are saying the CWB board is only interested in giving farmers minority control of the organization while still seeking majority ‘private’ control to increase their war chest. Of course if they used their imaginations, they could find a strong amount of capital through a ‘new generation’ co-operative model where farmers take equal majority control and investor shares are kept separate. Instead this feels like another example of the big boys making sure this ‘farmers working together’ thing doesn’t get out of hand.
We cannot forget that this 5-person board is not a group of elected farmers as was the case before Bill C-18; “The Bill to kill the CWB and give Private Companies more control of the Food Chain”, was rushed through parliament. This board is appointed by and solely accountable to the Federal Agriculture Minister, Mr. Gerry Ritz. That’s right, the same Gerry Ritz who has been orchestrating these ‘SMOKESCREENS’. The same man who said he ‘respects the vote’ of farmers but then ignored the 62% who wished to keep the single desk intact, as a farmer-controlled entity.
So why would the CWB bring in equity shares if it isn’t moving towards a co-operative model? Some possibilities:
a) They need more farmers to sign up in order to pay the bills.
b) The $17.5 Billion farmer driven class action lawsuit is still going through the courts. Harper and Ritz want to blow as much smoke as the can over the reality that farmers have lost big money with the federal decapitation of the CWB.
c) Partnerships with grain companies aren’t working out as planned.
d) Pinup girls, ignoring the support base, advertising ploys, and football pools just aren’t attracting business.
e) When the CWB buys grain at port from grain companies and then tries to sell it for a higher price across the ocean it just looks bad to farmers if they don’t have any ownership in the process.
f) Giving private companies ALL the earnings and assets of the CWB might be hard for the Competition Bureau to swallow all at once.
At the end of the day, we’re getting a sense from Gerry Ritz and his 5 appointees that they think farmers do not have the mental capacity to be given majority or co-operative control of a grain company. Or even worse, that he’s taking direction from the private grain companies and doesn’t want to ruffle those major Conservative supporters.
It’s time for the Ritz appointed CWB board and the Conservatives to change face and stop offering up the CWB as a golden calf to private companies as was done in Australia. That is a recipe for failure. It hurts on-farm sustainability and it weakens long-term rural community development by handing control over to international players.
Stop the smokescreens Mr.Ritz. It’s time to clear the air.
Smokescreens and other howlers from our Agriculture Minister:
“Farmers want a ‘dual market.”’ 1 – SMOKESCREEN.
Removing the single desk “drives the price up”. 2 – SMOKESCREEN.
“I’ve never been allowed to attend a board meeting” 3 of the farmer-elected directors – SMOKESCREEN.
My party “respects the vote” of farmers 4 – SMOKESCREEN see: Ritz Pulls back from CWB Debate. Manitoba Co-operator, March 24, 2011, vol 69, no 12. pp 1.
Poor hospitality
By Matt Gehl,
The Starphoenix
August 12, 2013
When the legislation wrecking the Canadian Wheat Board was making its way through the House and Senate in 2011 it became clear that neither of the two standing committees on agriculture were going to come to the Prairies. As a result I joined nearly 40 farmers from across the Prairies in going to Ottawa at our own expense to meet with elected and appointed representatives.
As a member of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, my job was to call every senator to set up a time when they could meet with concerned farmers. Over three weeks I made hundreds phone calls and was only able to set up a couple of dozen meetings.
Many senators were unavailable while some outright refused to meet with us, including Sen. Pamela Wallin. This is the same Wallin who trumpets her roots in Wadena.
Maybe she has been away from the Prairies for so long that she has forgotten one of the great traits of Saskatchewan is its hospitality. We weren’t asking her to fly to Saskatchewan to meet with us – we went to her. Yet she wouldn’t give us the time of day.
If Wallin showed up unannounced at any farm in Saskatchewan chances are she would be invited in for a cup of coffee. Yet when Saskatchewan farmers were at her office doorstep for three weeks, she would not extend that same courtesy.
Wallin insists she represents Saskatchewan in Ottawa. If she is such a tireless representative of the people of Saskatchewan, why would she not meet with Saskatchewan farmers who had paid for their own flights, hotels and meals to make it as easy as possible to have a meeting with her?
I could forgive Wallin if her troubles were the result of a clerical error, but I can’t forgive her because she is fraudulently claiming her expenses for being nothing more than an appointed cheerleader for the PMO.
It seems that the only people being represented by Sen. Wallin are her benefactors in the Conservative Party of Canada.
Senator Needs to Go!
by: Kyle Korneychuk
With so much discussion surrounding the state of the Senate, I think part of the focus should center on the personal conduct of the Senators.
Specifically the allegations, Senator David Tkachuk, the chair of the Internal Economy leaked confidential information to Senators which his committee was investigating. If this is the case the Prime Minister should have the honesty and integrity to dismiss that Senator. If the Chair of the review committee cannot keep information in confidence what example does this set for the other Senators or the institution?
In my experience Senator Tkachuk’s latest controversy is not surprising. In the fall of 2011, I was part of a group of farmers who meet with Tkachuk to discuss the Canadian Wheat Board issue. He specifically raised the contention that the CWB was not willing to meet with Minister Ritz. I asked the Senator where he got that information and he said Minister Ritz. I replied that the CWB had specifically sent three written letters to Minister Ritz asking for an audience which Ritz did not have the courtesy to reply to. I even followed up by sending copies of those letters to Senator Tkachuk’s office from which I received confirmation of receipt.
So when Minister Ritz testified before a committee, in which SenatorTkachuk was a member, and the Minister spouted off about not being allowed to attend a CWB meeting, I fully expected Tkachuk to do his duty and question the Minister since he had written confirmation that Minister Ritz was at best not telling the whole story and at worst, was attempting to mislead the committee. But Tkachuk sat like a mouse!
Senators are supposed to show “sober second thought” and this incident shows some of them should resign and be put out to pasture!
Another spending scandal in Saskatchewan
By Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-Post May 24, 2013
While all eyes are focused on the Senate expense scandal, another Harper government scandal is slowly unfolding right here in Saskatchewan.
The scandal, if you will, is the wholesale dismantling of government institutions, including Canadian Wheat Board, Canadian Grain Commission, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Community Pasture Program, Agroforestry Development Centre, to name a few.
The Senate expense scandal may be sexier, seamier and more sensational, but our own government spending scandal may prove to be more damaging in the long-run in the Tory heartland of rural Saskatchewan.
Too much ink has been spilled on the Canadian Wheat Board issue, so I won’t bore you with another account of how Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz went from promising farmers that the government wouldn’t act arbitrarily (i.e., that it would hold a plebiscite on changes to the CWB’s single desk) in March 2011 to the day after the May 2 election, when he announced the government would proceed arbitrarily to eliminate the CWB’s monopoly over export sales of wheat and barley.
And while it’s true that the sky didn’t fall on Aug. 1, 2012, when the monopoly was removed (just as Ritz predicted), the jury is still out on the long-term impact of the elimination of the single desk and the ultimate sale or demise of a much-weakened CWB, which is operating with about one-quarter of the staff it had during the monopoly period when it handled $5 billion to $6 billion in grain sales a year.
For example, there’s growing concern about the viability of producer cars, with the CWB no longer there to allocate producer cars, handle logistics and provide grain handling services at port for the farmer-shippers. Without producer cars, farmers will be paying more — about $1,800 a railcar — to ship their grain to export position.
Talking about costing farmers money, changes to the CGC announced in Bill C-45 are going to cost farmers millions of dollars.
According to the Western Grain Elevator Association and Inland Terminal Association of Canada, federal funding to the CGC will be chopped from $37 million a year to $5.4 million — from 50 per cent to nine per cent. (By comparison, the Federal Grain Inspection Service, which provides similar services as the CGC, is funded 37 per cent by the U.S. federal government.)
At the same time, outward inspection fees are more than tripling to $1.60 per tonne, while elevator licensing fees are increasing 33-fold to $3,300 per year.
So who pays for these cuts and fee increases? You guessed it. The Canadian grain farmer, who will face an added cost of $2,750 on a 5,000-acre farm.
Then there are the cuts to the Community Pasture Program announced in last year’s budget. When Ritz announced the elimination of the 75-year-old program and the transfer of the 1.6 million acres in Crown lands back to the province, livestock producers, environmental groups and the provincial government were shocked the federal government chopped a program dating back to the Dirty Thirties without consultation.
Moreover, the Tories’ plan put at risk 32 species of endangered plants and animals, as well as 10 to 15 per cent of the remaining natural grasslands in Canada. How much money will be saved? About $10 million a year, maybe a third of that in Saskatchewan. Who will foot the bill? Farmers again.
Another program on the Tory chopping block is the Agroforestry Development Centre at Indian Head. The ADC, which was established in 1901, is responsible for growing more than 610 million trees for farmsteads and shelterbelts across Western Canada. Every year, three to five million trees are planted for distribution to 7,000 rural landowners. But thanks to Tory budget cuts, this will be the last year farmers will receive trees from the ADC. The savings? A paltry $3 million a year.
Last week in Saskatoon, Ritz announced tough new rules to prevent outbreaks of E. coli at slaughterhouses, like the one at XL Foods in Brooks last year. The problem is staff cuts to the CFIA will make those tough new rules tougher to enforce.
Saskatchewan voters — more than half of whom voted Tory in the last election — must be wondering what they did to deserve this.
Johnstone is the Leader-Post’s financial editor
Butch Harder in Manitoba Ag Hall of Fame
April, 2013: Congratulations are in order for Wilfred (Butch) Harder of Lowe Farm, Manitoba for his induction into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame. Butch is a farm activist and community builder with few equals.
For a number of years his peers elected him to the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Wheat Board. Butch was a founding Director on the farmer-elected Canadian Wheat Board representing District 10 in Manitoba. He also served as a Manitoba Pool Director for 12 years and as a director for the Canadian Cooperative Association. Among other things, Butch now serves on the Board of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association. 
Many know Butch as an insightful and practical man with a good eye for nonsense and anything which does not serve the interests of farmers and their communities.
His warm personality and sense of humour also make Butch one of that rare breed of people who can take a strong position without offending those with less knowledge or experience.
Individuals judged to have made a significant and lasting contribution to agriculture in Manitoba during their lifetime are honoured with this appointment. Butch has certainly contributed not only to Manitoba but his work has benefitted all farmers across the prairies.
The 2013 Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. on July 10th at the Winkler Mennonite Church, 31 Willowdale Crescent, Winkler, Manitoba R6W 1G7.
When gospel becomes reality
Manitoba Cooperator, Feb. 28, 2013
Glenn Tait
Meota, Sask.
Throughout history belief has often trumped truth. Galileo, the father of modern science, proved by observing the nearby planets that the earth revolved around the sun. The church would hear none of it. Proof was irrelevant, or worse, blasphemous if it upset man’s central place in the universe. In 1633, Galileo was forced to recant and the evidence was suppressed.
I worry that we haven’t come so very far since the end of the Dark Ages. One has to go no further than the CWB debate to find half-truths and opinions vigorously defended as ‘gospel.’ Some blamed the CWB for not being able to ship the whole harvest right off the combine. But a glance at a map will soon show that that is just not possible. CP officials actually laughed when the notion was brought up at a Canada Grains Council meeting.
The CWB and its supporters have been disproving many of the same spurious arguments for years. For some people it seems veracity is irrelevant; they just shut their eyes and believe. Many ‘believers’ will hold to an unproven but rational sounding assertion or anecdote or some statistical anomaly and ignore the bulk of provable truth.
At times the American price for wheat was higher than ours, but in a recent U.S. Department of Commerce study CWB wheat delivered to northern U.S. points was higher priced than the local stuff 59 out of 60 months. Some farmers may have been underpaid slightly for protein, but now the protein and grade premiums are just a fraction of what they used to be. Now we are all underpaid.
We also have to expensively reinvent all the marketing and development work the old CWB used to do for us. It’s long past time for rationality. The earth really revolves around the sun. Elvis died in 1977. There’s no nicotine in Tim’s coffee. And on the whole the CWB, the CGC, and the PFRA did just what they were supposed to do on behalf of the farmer. They increased knowledge and power.
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