To the Editor:
With legislation to destroy the single desk of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) having passed the House of Commons last week, Conservative MP Garry Breitreuz is singing soothing words that farmers will be able to count on the Board for the next five years.
But farmers know better than to listen to siren songs. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told a committee that he would celebrate the swift removal of the government backstop: "If they do it in two years, it'll be great."[1]
After it lost its monopoly, it only took two years before the Australian Wheat Board was sold off to Agrium. Small family farmers were crushed under the weight of multinationals and are leaving the business in droves.
Don't expect anything less swift and gruesome in Canada. Just ask the Minister.
Frank Valeriote, MP, Liberal Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food.
