Harper government destroying Wheat Board in behalf of U.S. Bush administration

by John Stokes

The Conservative government is deliberately undermining the future of the world renown Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) with a manipulative plebiscite held on January 31, 2007, and a series of crippling attacks that have already hampered the board's credit rating, Agricultural Critic Wayne Easter says.

	Carlos Saul Menem

The Harper minority government is destroying the Wheat Board in behalf of U.S. Bush administration privatization interests, associated with U.S. Agri-Business. Indeed, the Stephen Harper government seeks to destroy the Canadian farm sector, with a similar agenda to Carlos Menem, who was the neo-conservative "Peronist" President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999.

Under similar U.S. right wing pressures, Mr. Menem turned Argentina from having one of the highest standards of living in South America, to a "Hatianized" country now with one of the worst standards of living in the world. Argentinean farmers lost their farm land, often becoming homeless, as U.S. multinational corporations moved in. Mr. Harper government's Menem-like agenda, which includes targeting the Canadian Wheat Board, would similarly destroy the livelihood of Canadian farmers, along with Canada's quality-of-living in general.

"The Harper government is on the verge of destroying a Canadian institution due to its rigid ideology," said Mr. Easter. "They have manipulated the democratic process, picked on those they think can't fight back and are refusing to use a clear set of questions on this plebiscite because they don't want to give barley producers a real say on the CWB.

"And now the Conservatives' shabby handling of the board has led to a downgrading of its credit rating - one that may continue to fall even further as government support deteriorates," says Mr. Easter.

Standard & Poor's Rating Services announced yesterday it lowered the CWB's long- term issuer credit to AA+ from AAA and that Conservative policies may cause the rating to fall even further. The agency stated: "Given the desire of the government to reform the wheat market and the current strained relations between the government and CWB's board, the level of support from the federal government for CWB and its current public policy role will not recover to a level that is consistent with a 'AAA' rating in the near term and could deteriorate further," the Winnipeg Free Press reported in Jan. 31, 2007.

	Traitors among Us is a book for further reading on this subject.

"Clearly, the claims by Mr. Harper and Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl that the CWB can remain viable without its monopoly power are simply not true - something we have been saying all along," says Mr. Easter.

The CWB's barley plebiscite begins today when KPMG starts mailing out ballots to Canada's barley producers. The plebiscite contains three options that are highly manipulative, Mr. Easter says.

The options are: 1) The Canadian Wheat Board should retain the single desk for the marketing of barley into domestic human consumption and export markets; 2) I would like the option to market my barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer; or 3) The Canadian Wheat Board should not have a role in the marketing of barley.

"Question #2 leaves voters with the false assumption that the CWB can function in an open market. It is deliberately misleading. If producers vote for #2, it is the same as voting for #3," explains Mr. Easter.

"The Minister should be using the clear and fair options that were approved by Parliament rather than his manipulative, ideological ones."

Mr. Easter also reiterated his point that Minister Strahl altered the voters' list to his benefit.

"Mr. Strahl has compiled a list that includes a large number of farmers who do not use the CWB. The CWB doesn't have any role with regards to the sale of barley for domestic feedstock. This means that farmers who have no involvement with the CWB will have the same say as producers who rely on the CWB for their livelihood. Mr. Strahl is clearly trying to drive up the number of voters that select the second option - the false choice option," he said.

"This attack has got to stop now before it is too late. This minority Conservative government is destroying this valued institution that is critical to Canadian producers."

Recommended Readings:

Traitors among Us: The Betrayal of Canada, ISBN: 1897036310, and 1897036078, Agora Publishing Consortium and The Canadian National Newspaper, 2007.

Capitalism is Not Democracy, Part I, ISBN: 1894934636, Agora Publishing Consortium, 2006

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