Speech for Hon. Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
HEADINGLY, MB
December 19, 2006 1:30 P.M.
Check against delivery
- Bonjour, good afternoon.
- I'm here today to talk to you about a couple of things - about following through on our commitment to provide you with marketing choice and our commitment to maintaining a strong Canadian Wheat Board that will provide you with a strong and viable marketing option now - and in the future.
- And we're making progress. I was quite pleased to see that the Wheat Board has recently taken steps to give farmers more choice to process their own wheat and barley through the "Field to Plate" program. This provides more marketing freedom and flexibility for you folks and it shows the Wheat Board can make those kinds of changes if it wants to.
- So I'm happy about that because it gives you more opportunities - more choice - and makes me think that marketing choice for barley is the next logical step for the Board to make.
Announcement
- And I am going to talk about that, but first l want to tell you that I'm pleased to be able to announce that earlier today I appointed a new interim President and Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Wheat Board for the next three months.
- We have chosen a man with a wealth of experience in the grain industry, a man who has supported the organization and producers and a man who is on record as saying the Canadian Wheat Board has to concentrate first and foremost on its mandate, which is selling farmers' grain for the best possible price and ensuring that the Wheat Board remains a strong and viable marketing option for those of you who choose to sell to it.
- He knows that all of us, including the Wheat Board, have to change with changing times and he supports our Government's vision of marketing choice for grain producers.
- So I am very pleased to be able to tell you that I have appointed Greg Arason as interim President and CEO. You will all remember that Mr. Arason was President and CEO of the Canadian Wheat Board before retiring in 2002 and received wonderful reviews for his work both from current members of the Board and from the previous government, which appointed him to the position in 1998.
- I'm happy he's accepted this appointment and I am confident that he will work hard to ensure the main business of the Corporation, which is treating the marketing of wheat and barley for Western Canadian farmers as its highest priority.
- When Mr. Arason retired four years ago, he gave an interview to the Western Producer and he talked about what the priorities should be for the Board's CEO. He said the organization had to ignore all the political debate and various controversies that are always swirling around and to concentrate instead on the job at hand - which is selling Prairie farmers' wheat and barley for the best price possible.
- He said, "At the end of the day, [the CWB] is a marketing organization and that's what you've got to keep your eye on."
- That is 100 per cent correct. This is what I've been saying for several months now. The Board needs to do what its mandate is - which is to market grain in an orderly fashion on behalf of farmers. That's its job. That's what's in the legislation. That's what you folks expect and it's what I expect as Minister.
- We want to give you marketing choice - the same choices other farmers across the country have - and we also want to maintain a strong Wheat Board so that it will be there for those producers who do choose to continue to sell their grain though the Board.
- I have no doubt that as we move forward with marketing choice, that the Wheat Board has a historic opportunity to leverage its assets - a knowledgeable staff, an excellent reputation and a loyal base of farmers who will continue to want to sell through it - to become a strong, voluntary and profitable commercial institution.
- I look forward to working with Mr. Arason as we move towards achieving that vision and I look forward to working with the Board of Directors as we search over the next couple of months for a permanent President and CEO.
Orderly transition
- Now I want to take a few moments just to briefly review where we are at with marketing choice as we head into the New Year.
- First of all, over the past year, we have been moving forward in an orderly and transparent fashion. I would underline the word transparent. We committed to marketing choice during the campaign. There are no surprises here. No hidden agenda.
- We campaigned openly about it and we want to move ahead with it.
- But of course, nothing's absolute. So that change also requires us to consult broadly and we're going to do that and continue to consult.
- In mid-September I launched a technical task force to explore transitional and structural issues that might be encountered in the move to marketing choice.
- The task force report came out mid-October. It recommends a phased-in transition from a Wheat Board with monopoly powers to a marketing choice environment: preparing for change, launching the new Wheat Board with transition measures and the post transition period.
- That's advice to me as Minister. It's certainly not marching orders, but it was a task force report that addressed transitional issues.
- I believe, however, that although they advised to start with legislative change, I think it's necessary to start with consultation first.
- So that is why at the end of October I announced that a plebiscite will be held on the marketing of barley.
- The plebiscite will be held in the New Year.
- I will develop a plebiscite question that is clear and that will be decided on by a broad base of voters.
- Again, the plebiscite is on barley only. The Wheat Board isn't going away. It will still be there for those of you who prefer to market your barley or wheat through it, same as you do today.
- But for those of you who want to market your barley somewhere else, we want to create that opportunity.
- The Board will remain, will continue to market. In fact, those who are planning on growing wheat and durum this spring should count on marketing that wheat crop through the Wheat Board as usual.
Rational for change
- So what's our rationale for change?
- Well first, as I mentioned, we campaigned on marketing choice. We said we wanted to have marketing choice. We campaigned on it. It was in our election brochures and we want to move ahead with it.
- Second - you've told us that the current system is suffocating innovation and stifling entrepreneurship.
- Farmers are independently minded. That's why you producers who are with us this afternoon have chosen the path you're on. Farmers are entrepreneurial businesspeople. You want to call your own shots, and decide for yourselves what to plant, when to harvest and how to market.
- Canadian agricultural producers want and need the chance to succeed and the freedom to make their own choices on how they produce and market their crops.
- We do not think they should be thrown in jail for that, as they have been in the past.
- Farmers want the ability to add value to their crops and capture more profits beyond the farm gate.
- Why not? You take all the risks and make all the investments.
- You deserve to have the opportunity to seek out the best possible return for your product - just as you would with canola or pulse crops or apples or cattle or any number of other products.
- Now for most of the past several decades, as you well know, Western Canadian wheat and barley growers have not had that choice.
- The Wheat Board monopoly on wheat and barley was imposed by Parliament decades ago because of a variety of dynamics and reasons.
- The system was essentially designed to collect the grain produced by thousands of small farmers, at small country elevators, market it around the world as a uniform commodity, and divide the returns from this process among all the producers who delivered the grain.
- Today, those dynamics have changed and our approaches and structures need to change with them.
- The idea of simply or only selling one uniform commodity made much more sense in the days when a few countries dominated the grain export market and large quasi-government buyers negotiated long-term supply contracts on a national level.
- Today, there are numerous new or growing exporters, in South America, Eastern Europe and other regions around the globe.
- As well, in the buying side of the market, it's moved away from the commodity procurement of the past to a situation in which a large number of mainly private buyers would select a range of quality attributes for particular market segments.
- In other words, people are getting picky. They want high-quality products which Canadians produce, but they want it delivered at a certain time, in a certain way, in a manner that often farmers are best able to meet.
- But make no mistake: Farmers and this government see a future in the grain industry but you - and we - are looking for new, value-added revenue streams and greater marketing flexibility.
- Currently, by law, you folks are fenced off from that. You're prevented from having the same rights as every other producer in the country about where to sell their products.
- Every producer and every situation is unique. The best person to decide the right production and marketing options for their farm is the person who makes the decisions, takes the risk and lives with the consequences.
Vision for the Wheat Board
- Our vision for the Canadian Wheat Board is this: A strong, voluntary, and profitable wheat board - one that can offer farmers a viable marketing choice.
- There are some out there who would say let's get rid of the Wheat Board. I'm not one of them. Nor is our government. We want a Wheat Board. We want it to be strong. We want it to be in a marketing choice world.
- So we see a bright future for a strong, viable and voluntary Wheat Board for those who choose to use its services. We want that option to be available. We believe the Wheat Board can continue to function and be a strong force in the international and domestic grain market.
- At the same time, there will be those of you who choose to do your own marketing.
- We believe you should have the freedom to do that as well - just as producers across Canada have the freedom to choose their own marketing systems.
- Farmers want to know where we are going as a Government. We have a plan. We're offering farmer consultation through a plebiscite. We're moving forward on barley. We believe that the future for grains, generally, is very bright here on the Prairies.
- But to get there, we must meet producers' needs and maximize their returns, maximize their choices and give them the options they deserve.
Closing remarks
- Our Government is a government of action. We think that things needed to change in Ottawa and they needed to change in the agricultural business. We're a Government that keeps its promises. We promised to give producers marketing choice and we're moving ahead on that commitment.
- Agriculture - and rural Canada as a whole - has played a vital role in the formation of our nation. You really can't talk about sovereignty as a nation if we don't have a strong and viable agriculture sector.
- Our New Government will continue to stand up for agriculture - and for you farmers - here and around the world.
- We will continue to stand up for a strong, vibrant farm sector that provides security of income to families dependent on farming, and food security for all other Canadian families.
- I must tell you, I'm very optimistic about the economic opportunities and prospects ahead for the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.
- I believe we've turned a corner on agriculture. Prices are coming up. Demand is on the rise. Government programming is changing to respond to that. And we're encouraging more diversity and opportunities for farmers.
- We are on the threshold, I believe, of the best years yet for agriculture and it's a great time to be the federal Agriculture Minister. Thank you