Newsroom
2002
November 15, 2002
Recommendation 14
Whereas additional on-farm activities and local value-added processing are an excellent way to give farmers more influence in pricing, the Committee recommends that the board of directors of the Canadian Wheat Board authorize, on a trial basis, a free market for the sale of wheat and barley, and that it report to this Committee on the subject.
The Government of Canada supports the mandate of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and is committed to preserving the ability of Canadians to operate the orderly marketing systems necessary for stability and profitability. The Canadian Wheat Board Act, as amended in 1998, provides a clear process that must be followed in order to alter the CWB's current marketing mandate. According to the Act, the Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board cannot introduce legislation into Parliament that seeks to change the marketing mandate of the CWB unless the Minister has consulted with the Board of Directors, and producers of affected grains have voted in favour of the proposal.
It must also be noted that those same 1998 amendments placed all the powers and authorities of the CWB in the hands of its Directors, two-thirds of whom are directly and democratically elected by producers themselves.
The Standing Committee directed this recommendation to the Board of Directors of the CWB. For the response from the CWB Board of Directors, see press release issued June 12, 2002 (http://www.cwb.ca/en/news/releases/2002/061202.jsp).