Appeasing the right

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2011 (5430 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Who knew the potential demise of the Canadian Wheat Board could stir such rancorous emotions?

And one of the most prevalent emotions on both sides of the pro- and anti-monopoly debate is fear, albeit in rather different ways.

As Postmedia News reported on Friday, the fight over the future of the CWB got uglier this week with another lawsuit, another ad campaign and accusations the federal government is ramming through legislation before farmers can be heard.

The remaining members of the board — two anti-monopoly board members have resigned from their duties in recent weeks — have continued to fight federal legislation to eliminate its monopoly over Prairie wheat and barley sales.

On top of a lawsuit the board filed against the federal government and its legislation, the board has initiated a Stop the Steamroller campaign in print, radio, TV and online advertising, asking Canadians to sent a text message that will generate a letter to MPs opposing the dismantling of the monopoly.

Critics of the federal government’s plan — such as Manitoba’s NDP government — fear that the move could have devastating consequences for the community of Churchill, its port and its economy. Churchill, located about 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg, gets 95 per cent of its port business from the grain marketer.

There is a lot riding on replacing the wheat board’s business in Churchill, reports The Canadian Press. Some 200 jobs — about one-fifth of the town’s population — are directly connected to grain shipments.

However, Ottawa has promised up to $5 million in each of the next five years to help fund grain shipments through Churchill, as well as $4.1 million over three years to maintain port infrastructure.

There are also concerns that Winnipeg-based jobs will disappear with the monopoly, not to mention the profit margins of a majority of grain producers who voted in a recent board plebiscite against dismantling the monopoly for wheat and barley.

Many of these board supporters believe that the federal government is ramming through the legislation against the rules in the Canadian Wheat Board Act. They are concerned that large grain-handling companies like Cargill, Richardson International and Viterra will be the actual beneficiaries of the end of the single desk — not the producers themselves.

An editorial in the Regina Leader-Post this week reflected that fear, warning that with no CWB, farmers will lose about $1 billion that the board normally channels into farmer pockets.

And in Brandon on Friday, protesting producers dumped a large pile of grain in front of Conservative MP Merv Tweed’s office on 18th Street North, as a symbol of the grain they will be “giving away” when the board monopoly ends next year.

But there is fear on the part of the federal government as well. Prime Minister Stephen Harper seems determined to ram through several pieces of legislation — not just the Wheat Board legislation, but other contentious items such as the crime bill and legislation to kill the long-gun registry.

The government recently invoked closure and referred Bill C-18 — the CWB legislation — to a standing committee of the House of Commons, essentially ending comment on the matter. Clearly the Tories fear a lengthy debate. It’s worth noting that all of these matters were part of the Conservative party’s election platform, and are leftovers from the hard-right Reformer days.

The best thing for Harper to do is push them through and appease his Reformist base, which will then allow him a free hand to reposition his party — and the country — to the moderate-right.

If the Tories are going to be successful in their efforts at replacing the Liberals as Canada’s natural governing party, the last thing they need is to have these issues dog them in the public for the next four years.

Unfortunately for the wheat board, it stands in the way of that accomplishment.