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The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba today jointly called on the federal government to hold a plebiscite on the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) single-desk marketing authority as soon as possible. Premier Gary Doer and Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert say that if the federal government denies producers their democratic right, the two provinces have agreed to hold their own vote.

 

“The single-desk marketing system has worked to the benefit of western Canadian farmers for 70 years,” Doer said.  “Now, the federal government has forced a major agricultural crossroads onto western producers. We believe the wheat board belongs to farmers and it should be up to farmers to decide its mandate and its future.”

 

“We believe that the loss of the single desk and the supposed implementation of an open market system would result in a serious financial loss for western Canadian grain producers – according to several studies, more than $500 million,” Calvert said. “Experimentation in a voluntary, open market doesn’t make sense, especially when the money is coming out of our producers’ pockets.”

 

The premiers also expressed concern over the threat to the future of inland terminals, producer railcar facilities, short-line railways and the Port of Churchill without the board’s presence, all of which would also result in losses to producers.

 

Calvert and Doer have also stated their stance that the federal government cannot make unilateral changes to the Canadian Wheat Board.

 

“We firmly believe that producers themselves should be given a voice in the future of the CWB and that the federal government must respect their right to choose,” Calvert said.  “Current legislation, in the form of the Canadian Wheat Board Act, upholds that right.”

 

“Farmers have told the federal government that decisions on grain marketing are to be made by farmers,” Doer said.  “That is the democratic way and the federal government must respect that.”