Thursday, May 19, 2011

Finally There Will Be Choice

Choice for farmers that is. Everybody's focused on the Senate appointments that PM Harper made yesterday. Something that is not being talked about so much is that after the new cabinet was sworn in yesterday Ag Minister Gerry Ritz indicated that the Conservative majority government will move forward this fall to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly.Finally!

Legislation will be introduced in the fall and it's expected to take effect for the new crop marketing year August 2012.  It  will be a long time in coming and be much welcomed.
OTTAWA/WINNIPEG (Reuters) - Canada's Conservative government will likely introduce legislation this autumn that will end the Canadian Wheat Board's marketing monopoly on wheat and barley in 2012, the agriculture minister said on Wednesday.

I remember when my dad was still farming in the '70s he and his farmer friends for years had often complained about how restrictive the CWB was and how they felt they weren't getting a good deal for their grain. Then at the end of their discussions all the time they would shrug their shoulders saying " well, what can you do?"  They felt helpless. If you grew wheat or barley, there were quotas. You had to have a permit book, you were told when to sell,  told you could only sell a certain amount and  for a what price. Those quotas had a very limited time period each time too. Yeah I know, sounds like the old Soviet Union. My dad retired in the early '80s and is now in his mid 90s  and will be happy to hear that the farmers today will have finally get the choice of marketing their grain on their own.

Getting rid of the CWB monopoly will finally free farmers up to market their grain and get the best deal. There have been so many lies out there that the CWB will be abolished. That is not the case, the CWB will still be there for those who wish to use it. It's the monopoly that  will be abolished.

Getting rid of the monopoly is a promise the Conservatives have wanted to keep for so many years and have tried but not able to do so.  Now with a majority in both chambers of the House, it's looking more and more promising and possible  the job will be done.

Watch this video from a segment on Charles Adler's show  talking about the CWB  with a couple of guests.

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