They stab it with their steely knives…
The government, the three justices ruled, had the right to order the CWB to pretty well do whatever it wanted, under Section 18(1) of the Canadian Wheat Board Act, which states that “the Governor in Council may, by order, direct the Corporation with respect to the manner in which any of its operations, powers and duties under this Act shall be conducted, exercised or performed.” Directors must consider these orders, whatever their own opinions, to be in the “best interest” of the board. The Board, they added, “is a creature of statute and, as such, it has no powers, rights and duties save those bestowed on it by the Act.” As much as the CWB may claim to be a farmer-run, independent agency, unanswerable to Ottawa, this is, according to the high court’s ruling, a delusion on the part of directors who apparently repeated it to themselves so often that they came to believe it. According to the law, the CWB is the official property of the agricultural ministry.
Not surprisingly, the CWB, even today, insists differently. And it now says it will to use the revenues it takes from selling Western farmers’ wheat and barley to battle the government again, having pledged recently to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada—so it can argue in favour of using Western farmers’ wheat and barley to continue to fight against allowing farmers the freedom to sell their grains independently.
I think I see where Lynch got her delusions…..
AtlanticJim at 12:07 PM
**I think I see where Lynch got her delusions…..**
Yeah pretty much…..
Tammany Hall reincarnated…..
Bureaucracy out of control….
Apparently it costs about a million dollars to take something to the Supreme court. And we have yet to hear from the Board what legal technicality the appeal court got wrong. I think they’re doing it just to waste time in hopes that the Liberals will win a fall election and ride to the monopoly’s rescue.
Meanwhile every farmer in western Canada is getting a buck a bushel less than the open market for their wheat.
I do not, for the life of me, know why anyone west of Ontario supports the CWB. I had a quota book myself for a few years, long enough to realize that there was no living to be made, and no way to raise a family farming under the CWB.
There has to be something more to this. Something like sponsorship, only with real money.
The next order of government should be for the CWB to release all accounting records in their possession. A forensic audit of this organization is past due.
I’m not a farmer (but I did have uncles that farmed), but just the optics of CWB control drive me nuts. But I’m wondering if there is any data on the demographics of farmers who support the CWB. I suspect that the supporters of the CWB are older farmers who have only ever planted wheat and just are unable to comprehend any other way of farming (which would mean having to learn about other crops). I also suspect that young farmers have moved into other crops, not only because they are more profitable than wheat but also because it gets them out of the heavy hand of CWB. But I await any real data. However if it is mainly older farmers supported CWB, then time will take care of that.
The government has all strings to pull on this one.
They can ‘amnesty’ the farmers, i.e. shield them from enforcement and prosecution by the board, like they did with unregistered long gun owners.
They can also fire the board directors and employees, w/o replacing them, thus creating a ‘hollow in the air’.
They could do just that about Miramichi, but chose not to, thus I will sit on my hands if the election comes this autumn – traitors must be punished.
The wheat board does a survey every year, and they do a demographic breakdown of some of the questions. It is definitely the older generation that supports the board to a greater degree than the youngsters.
I do not like what the CWB is doing or has done. They should demonstrate benefits and be good at what they do so farmers will chose to come to them.
But why are the 10 farmer elected Directors not doing what farmers want and opening the selling up? Or are they reflecting their constituency?
what is necessary is to send in some very large burly bailiffs and seize all documents, equipment, the furniture (for effect) and change the *&%#&#@ locks.
do the ottawa harperists have the guts? NOT.
I keep thinking Canadian Welding Bureau.
maybe we can have one of their graduates weld the other CWB stiffs into a 1/2″ steel box and dump them in a lonely corner of a wheat field unused because of their marketing practices.
Somebody asks where the support comes from for the CWB.
Among farmers I know it’s the little guys who are too far from terminals and the US border to cash in.
There are a few of the older ones … usually the 65+ age group that still have the CCF love of government.
The younger generation … in my experience … do not like losing money to subsidize their peers or the bureaucrats.
I’m convinced that the CWB is a bureaucracy out of control and it’s past the time to fire them all.
‘There has to be something more to this. Something like sponsorship, only with real money.’
Follow the money.
On closing the the CFB file let’s all play a game of ‘where’s Steve’?
Where’s Steve on :
CWB – monopoly marketing reform?
Killing the duck gun registry?
Senate reform?
CHRA reform?
Tax reform?
Democratic reform?
Hint; He spends way way too much time in Otterwash.
If the directors are not following directions that are binding upon them, can they not be sued personally for the recovery of misspent money for the CWB and ultimately the farmer. It seems they are in breach of their fiduciary duties to the government and the farmers.
Make the wheat board mandatory for all Canadian farmers. That will shut this corrupt scandal ridden group down faster than anything. Show farmers you have a set Harper, and go for it. This has gone on to long this oughtright theft of money from 3, only three provinces. Take it to the great human rights commies you farmers, this is a violation of your human rights not to be able to sell your product where you want, throw the ball into the leftie court and watch the pigs squeal.
We should be glad because this is a big mistake by the CWB. Who really believes that the Supreme Court will give Prairie grain farmers (actually under the control of Winnipeg bureaucrats) authority to rule over exports of Ontario and Quebec wheat and flour?
The important fact is that the CWB Act is composed of distinct “Parts”. Some of the “Parts” such as II & III are about CWB marketing and are only in the designated area. However, the important Part IV is about NATIONAL licencing and applies equally throughout ALL Canada.
In 1998, when the Liberal$ amended the CWB Act, a senior grains bureaucrat documented to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture that the reason that the Government had to maintain control was not because of the finacial guarantees, but because of the NATIONAL LICENCING.
The National Post article is right that the Government can order the CWB to issue licences to producers without discrimination as to where the grain was grown.
FIRE THEM ALL.