Last evening, CTV’s Jill Macashon did a segment (web version) on the Canadian Wheat Board debate that had all the depth of a sixth grade book report. Watch it if you like. About all you’ll “learn” is that Alberta wants the monopoly gone, while Saskatchewan and Manitoba farmers function as a Borg collective.
But here’s a neat tidbit a reader sent along a few days ago, contained in a this 2005 federal court document: Renova Holdings Ltd. et al. v. The Canadian Wheat
The plaintiffs argued “that the Board issued direct export licences for wheat to producers outside of the designated area and that the revenue from the direct export sales by those producers did not become a part of the pooled revenue from sales held for all who farmed in the designated area and provided wheat for the Board to sell. However, and this is the crux of the cause of action, the Board incurred expenses in granted the direct export licences which it then, wrongfully in the view of the Plaintiffs, deducted from the pooled sales proceeds account held for all producers of wheat in the designated area.”
In the CWB statement of defence:
[3] The Defendants seek to strike out the Statement of Claim on the basis that the Board is accountable only to Parliament and that neither the Board nor the Crown owe any duty to or are accountable to the Plaintiffs as producers of wheat.
Maryjane, i suppose your ok with pouring billions into bombardier, air canada, cbc, welfare? and on & on?
I’m not advocateing handouts to farmers, but have you any idea of the amount of money made off farmers or jobs created by them? fuel delivery, grocery stores, grain co’s., cn cp rail, caseih, newholland, john deer, direct seeding manufacturers, shiping companys, container co.’s, trucking companys. I could go on.
And evertime someone goes on strike and ships are held up, where do you think they get the demurage charges? Yes sir ree, right out of the farmers pocket(cwb pool account). Is that fare? How about laying the charges at the feet of the people responsable for the delay’s (strike), that would be a novel idea. If You want to see bedlem in sask, man. and probably 1/3 alta. just shut down farming!
btw,how many jobs does your profession create mj?… zilch?
jjm, when one end of the country is treated differently than the other it is difficult to remain patriotic. I suggest somone in the east start paying attention, before none is needed!
Bwhahahaah..bend over all you socialist nitwits. Recieve the CWB up your butt and enjoy it. Welcome to Canuckistan, the sorryest excuse for a country going
I am a 68 yr old farmer who gave up hope that the CWB would ever be an asset to me or the industry. I have not grown either wheat or barley for 10 years now, and my only regret in that decision is that it took me so long to figure it out. I now grow only non-board grains, not only because of my philosophical view, but also because I make more money. I don’t recall what year it was that oats were removed from the jurisdiction of the CWB, but it was done because oats was considered to be specialty niche crop not grown in enough volume to make any money for anybody. Once out from the clutches of the CWB oats is now my best moneymaker, and the oats related “value added” industry has flourished, not to mention the increase in oats export to the U.S.A.
I am able to make full use of futures and options markets with my grains, not like the restricted “choices” the CWB has offered to producers in the last couple of years in an effort to make it look like they are mellowing.
The CWB was conceived in order to keep grain prices low so as to assist GB to recover from the effects of WW2. They have been very successful in their mandate.
Please Mr. Strahl, bring on a dual market before I retire. I might even grow some wheat.
speaking of who is ‘accountable’ apparently the present ottawa administration feels itself NOT ‘accountable’ to the canadaian people with regards to the background events leading up to Maher Arar’s being dispatched to syria thanks to rcmp misinformation and bungling:
Holland has been demanding tough answers from Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day about how Maher Arar’s case was handled by the RCMP, prompting Day to describe him as a “Perry Mason on steroids.”
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli stepped down from his position this week after contradicting himself on what he knew — and when he knew it — about Arar’s deportation to Syria by U.S. authorities, who ”
gee stock baby, maybe we NEED a perry mason ‘on steroids’ to root out the truth about YOU.
bollocks… How about someone to root out the PROOF that all these nasty things actually happened to Arar while he was in syria? I am not prepared to accept HIS word about the “alleged torture” before the government gives him a big bag of money to compensate for something that “supposidly” happened under the lieberal watch. If there is physical proof then by all means he should be compensated for the lieberal incompadence untill then I would tend to do as the US and syria did and tell him to pound sand.Did the RCMP and CSIS just pull this guys name out of a hat and say “Lets jerk this one around just for fun”?
“I am ALBERTAN first and [Canadian] second.”
In which case:
1. You confirm that Canada is indeed a “confederation of hyphenated enclaves.”
2. Your grumbling at Dion/”Catholic PMs”/Trudeau etc., etc. or indeed anyone who appears to be advancing the interests of Québéc above Canada rings pretty hollow indeed.
Presumably then, it’s OK if Alberta comes before Canada but not any other province.
How does that make you any better a Canadian than a Québécois nationalist?
“[W]hen one end of the country is treated differently than the other it is difficult to remain patriotic.”
If “patriotism” for you is purely predicated on self-interest, then I would suggest you do not have a firm grip on the concept.
Perhaps you mean “nationalism” instead?
…doncha just love Glasnost?
rob c:
time to extricate yourself from the cave.
there are inumerable ways of inflicting torture that dont leave physical evidence. furthermore it was the explicite intent of the americans to send Arar off to syria knowing he would be tortured by the syrians and they, the americans, could claim they didnt do the deed.
theres your proof.
now it your turn to prove the syrians had a policy of allowing any man jack to sashay into their country to check up on political prisoners and prison conditions.
anyone pushing this ‘proof’ arguement at this point in time when zacardelli admitted the truth did not get out in a timely manner is stuck in their own dark age.
CSIS got their game started by hiring some neo nazi to be an informant whose name escapes me but I certainly dont put a great deal of currency in anything they have to say as far as ‘proof’ and if ‘proof’ is the determining factor, where is the ‘proof’ behind security certificates that by their very nature do not come with any ‘proof’.
gawd some people are naive.
as a farmer i watch the cwb debate with great interest. wheat is a fair price on the world market but we are still getting paid nothing for our product. i was in winnipeg a couple of weeks ago and just thought i would drive to portage and main and see how my money was being spent. the 7 million dollar expansion sure is nice. the wheatboard has nothing to do with delivering a premium to western farmers….it is all about liberal jobs in winnipeg, just drive to portage and main and see the show for yourself. chuck strahl is on the right track, there needs to be a few more firings
No jjm, i mean patriotic. must bother you that the west is becomeing tired of being fleeced. I wonder what you’ll call her when she’s gone? she wasn’t for nationalism? get a grip fella.
Spike, First, recognize that there is a difference between OWNERSHIP and POSSESSION. The CWB buys the grain and takes ownership but not possession which usually goes to an elevator company. In the case of buy-backs, there is no change of possession.
As for costs of strikes, etc coming out of the pool accounts, that only affects interim and final payments, and in international court, the CWB claims that interim and final payments are only CWB profits. “In essence, Canada asserts that the latter two payments are in fact and in law a distribution of profits, as opposed to an amount paid for the acquisition of the grain.” Case No. CDA-92-1807-01 Canada – United States Free Trade Panel.
Incidently, the panel agreed with Canada on this issue. So the farmer gets only gets “paid” the initial payment, its then the CWB’s grain and if the CWB can get a profit selling, the farmer gets a share of the profit. The only incentive for the CWB bureaucrats, who are certain to get paid, is a continuation of the system. This is why they don’t want producers to understand what is really going on
JJM: Thanks for proving Rush Limbaugh right when he states it must be awful to be a liberal and wake up every morning mad. My remarks re the catholic PMs was in response to a question from a reader, who asked who catholic PMs were loyal to. I don’t think he knew that we had so many from Que. and their policies were, Que and votes first, then the ROC. It was Trudeau who asked western grain farmers, Why should I sell your wheat, then gave westerners the finger, then the NEP. So, yes, if the question ever came up, Alberta in a Canada with leaders that screw us all the time and kiss ass in Que, I would vote Alberta separation. And if there was ever a national vote re Que, I would vote, kick them out, or at least stop all equalization pymts to that prov from Alberta.
“maryT”:
“I would vote Alberta separation.”
Well, being born and raised in Canada doesn’t seem to have made you any more loyal or committed to our country.
What’s the point of requiring immigrants and “dual citizens” to be that way then?
Some example you are.
Yes bollocks there are naive people . You are confirmation of that fact. You have an obvious hatred for this country (and it’s poilice forces). Maybe the Conservative “BAD” lieberal”GOOD” syndrome of the left wing socialists? Don’t know don’t care.If you are OK with Arar being payed off then I will allow YOU to cover my “tax dollar” share of the bill. Now I want you to run along find maryjane and play nice . I am done talking with you .
I was a loyal Canadian prior to trudeau and the liberals making this a country of muslims for votes. Read why I would vote to separate. Quit using partial stmts. and spreading them as facts. The Canada I and many other westerners were loyal to no longer exists. Sp interest groups have forced their agendas down our throat, not because it was better, just because they could. The kooks started to use words like bigots, facists, homophobes etc to make their pointless claims. The media followed them. We are supposed to tolerate your views but you in turn don’t tolerate ours. The kooks denigrated family, religion (except islam), education, marriage and so many other things. Maybe itis time for a memorial service for Canada.
John; as I said before,you didnt have a very good lawyer.The CWB NEVER buys our grain.They give us an initial price and then sells it on our behalf.For goodness sake, next time you take them to court,get Johnie Cochrane or his equal.You may have to pay a million but you will win.Ask O.J.
Spike; I have also read court cases about this, I think maybe it was the Sask Wheat Pool v. CWB in the 80’s and if memory serves me it was about SWP taxes. But I am not going to take the time to look it up because you wouldn’t believe it anyway. The Act is wrong, and the NAFTA panel is wrong, but you’re right, because the CWB has told you so. If that’s what you want to believe, go ahead.
One more quick point, Spike. You are familiar with the ‘buyback’? How can I possibly buy my grain back from the Board if I have not sold it to the Board in the first place?
Monopolies breed complacency
Until someone gets the Supreme Court to make the Federal Electoral Boundaries Act unconstitutional because it violates Section 15 (equality) of the charter, no one is going to pay attention to the west and their wants and desires. Consequently they will be stuck with laws made to appease the east becasue that is where the seats are. If Alberta and BC had 80 seats to Quebec’s 75 seats and PEI was reduced to 2 seats. How long do you think it would take before the politcal nickel would drop? It should be a no brainer for some smart young western lawyer, because all 10 provinces signed into Confederation for representation by population, not a fixed seat count based on a moment in time in the 1970.
Ian
in Nova Scotia
John;thats the whole point,THEY DONT BUY OUR GRAIN!If they did they would be,as an arm of the Dept of Trade and Commerce,responsible for dumurage charges.Dont get me wrong,I think that the CWB was the worst thing to be introduced to Western Canada ever.It just extended the harsh conditions of the 1930’s.
Ralph Goodforall and his Liberal “Western Haters” have negotiated the end of the great Canadian Wheat Board as of 2013, through negotiations at the WTO.
Why are the Liberals making such a fuss over the CWB changing 6 years earlier than their negotiated end of the CWB.
Seems to me Wayne Easter is not very well informed by his buddies is the Liberal party. His former leadership in the Farmers Union must be still a fog on the old brain. Remember, the NFU represents less than 1% of the farmers of Western Canada and should be disregarded in this debate.
Spike, the CWB absolutely is Trade and Commerce, based not only on all court rulings but also based on internal government documents that it was intended as legislation under trade and commerce.
Demurage simply means less money to go into the pool account to be the “profits” shared by the farmers. The CWB bureacrats always get paid, leftovers go to farmers, and as you know, taxpayers pay any deficets.
Spike, one further point all farmers should be aware of is that producer grain is under AGRICULTURE and NOT TRADE AND COMMERCE. Unless you have contracted or offered your grain to the CWB they have no legal claim to it.