In the wake of the Harper government’s abolition of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single-desk marketing system, I made a suggestion last week for some practical follow-up.
An open market for wheat and barley is the biggest change in the prairie grains industry in several generations. And it’s happening without a vote among producers, or any public hearings, or any significant debate in Parliament, or any cost-benefit analysis, or even a coherent business plan to manage change.
The government claims everything is wonderful, but a substantial number of farmers disagree.
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. So I suggested that a credible, competent and totally independent third-party – like, for example, the University of Saskatchewan – should begin monitoring, measuring, analyzing and reporting publicly on all the evolving consequences of eliminating the single-desk.
Are open market “price discovery” mechanisms adequate and fair? Will a higher-risk “voluntary” CWB have to slash initial payments? How much will private grain companies pay the banks to finance grain payments to farmers (a service that used to be provided by the CWB at government rates)?
What check-offs will be deducted? What about services provided to farmer-owned terminals, community-operated short-lines, and producer-loaded rail cars? Can anyone effectively challenge the railways or grain companies for substandard services or excessive costs?
And at the bottom line, are producers making a higher or lower net profit overall?
No one should fear the collection and publication of honest, accurate data about grain marketing. But the Harper government has a bad record on transparency.
They mangled the census, undermining the credibility of Statistics Canada. They spew venom every time they’re criticized by their own Parliamentary Budget Officer. They put a gag-order on all federal scientists. They ignore hard evidence proving their law-and-order plan will actually make communities less safe.
This is not a record that inspires trust.
