To the Editor:
Ag Minister Gerry Ritz has a reputation for sometimes folksy, occasionally absurd and always partisan remarks, but when he strays into areas of defamation and outright lies, a response is warranted. In testimony before the Commons Agriculture Committee regarding the Harper government’s plan to gift CWB assets to a multinational grain company willing to partner with CWB, Ritz stated that “there were no assets” or implied that the assets were so heavily leveraged that the farmer controlled CWB was insolvent.
Very little is known about CWB’s financial position since Aug 1, 2012 when the government summarily removed the elected farmer directors and ended the single desk. Since then, no financial statements have been made available, no information has been provided on sales or costs, or the financing of CWB’s elevator buying and building spree, but let’s be clear where things stood when farmers were in control.
The single desk CWB paid out all its revenues less the cost of operations every crop year so it had no capital base other than a contingency fund to backstop pricing options, a special account of uncashed cheques and capital assets used to carry out its business. Those capital assets included a recently renovated office building and furnishings, computer hardware and software, vehicles, hopper cars and two lakers under construction. The cost of these assets was spread over past, current and future pool years as prescribed by the relevant accounting standards and the CWB’s financial statements always received unqualified (clean) audits from the external auditor. Also worth mention was the CWB’s fully funded pension plan that left no unfunded pension liability in the event of wind-up.
The net fair market value of CWB assets on July 31, 2012 might be a matter of some debate but it was certainly not zero. The $145 million cash in the contingency fund alone was indisputably $145 million. It is also indisputable that the assets were all paid for by farmers. Of course the greatest CWB asset was its single desk and its value remains the subject of legal action.
The enormity of the Harper government’s actions regarding the CWB must not be forgotten. The government ousted democratically elected farmer directors and ended farmer control of the CWB. They killed the single desk even though farmers supported it in seven consecutive director elections and the CWB plebiscite - the equivalent of torching the factory. Those actions made employees, office space and computer systems redundant, triggering untold millions in severance, write downs and broken contracts. The government acknowledged this by committing 349 million taxpayer dollars (The Canadian Press, June 28, 2012) to add to the fire and is now apparently ready to hand over whatever is left and whatever has been purchased with farmer and taxpayer funds to a grain company willing to “partner” with CWB.
It’s no surprise that Minister Ritz has attempted to disparage the farmer controlled CWB to deflect scrutiny of his government’s actions. However, the facts are that on our watch the CWB was financially sound, with significant assets held on behalf of farmers and a mandate from farmers supporting the single desk. It is Minister Ritz and the Harper government that must answer for the debacle that has followed.
Former Elected CWB Directors:
Allen Oberg
Larry Hill
Ian McCreary
Bill Nicholson
Bill Toews
Bill Woods
Rod Flaman
Cam Goff
Stewart Wells
John Sandborn
Kyle Korneychuk
