Wheat Kings

You see, once again we have a situation where Canada is a world leader in a given industry, and our federal government is hell bent on aiding and abetting the destruction of a good thing. Canadian wheat is sold in large quantities around the world because of its high protein content and reknowned quality. Canadian wheat is 'baker friendly.' So what`s the problem? Well, it seems that the Monsanto corporation, with the help of our own federal government, would like Canadian wheat farmers to switch over to Monsanto`s 'roundup ready' genetically modified wheat. Problem is, there`s no market for it, given that many countries, especially the European union, have already declared to Canada that they will not purchase genetically modified wheat. Secondly, the Canadian farmers themselves don`t want to plant it, because it would be more costly to plant per hectare as opposed to their existing strain of wheat that`s planted. So, once again, I have to ask, " Why is the federal government hell bent on ruining an already good thing?" Well, I detect, once again, the American 'hinterland' syndrome. Just like the United States sees Canada as a dependable source of vast resources to be shipped to the 'real' markets south of the great lakes and 49th parallel, the same is true for agriculture. The goal here is to kill Canada`s trade diversity in wheat, and replace it with another 'north-south' Canadian dependency on an unaltruistic American market. Since the U.S. itself does not object to genetically modified crops, a single bi-lateral wheat trade, once again dictated by a U.S.- corporate body, will be erected. The U.S. will be the sole market for Canadian genetically modified wheat, and since it will be more expensive to implement, you can bet that more farms that have been in families for generations will not be able to afford to operate in the 'new economy', and new, large scale corporate farms, likely American in origin, will take up operations in the Canadian prairies. Where does our federal government fit into this? Given that Ottawa is just letting it happen, coupled with the fact that Ottawa continues to endorse a NAFTA agreement which has taken chunks out of Canadian sovereignty over the years, there`s no mistaking the knowing of the Canadian government`s loyalty, or lack there-of!