The Big Lie..........

In April 2002, following a meeting with top US trade officials, North Dakota Wheat Commission Chair Maynard Satrom assured growers "the common objective of both the U.S. government and U.S. wheat producers is the ultimate reform of the monopolistic Canadian Wheat Board." Two weeks later, in Senate testimony, the US Department of Agriculture argued that the special privileges of single-desk sellers gave "unfair advantages" to CWB farmers, adding that American grain should be able to freely compete with Canadian grain for Canadian rail shipments. Complaining that the practices of the CWB restrict US access to our market and make US producers less competitive on world markets, the USDA called for "fundamental reform" of organizations such as the CWB "to permanently assure that U.S. producers are treated fairly in the world market". In March 2003 a WTO challenge was launched. Canada won that action in April 2004, as well as its subsequent appeal several months later. In May the following year, the North Dakota Wheat Commission was at it again. In a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee, it argued the CWB "has a longstanding history of … creating and developing a competitive advantage … in wheat markets around the world." Well done! And the results are impressive. A privately held member cooperative, the CWB ranked number 95 in this year’s list of the Financial Post’s FP 500 companies. Just behind SNC-Lavalin, Saputo Inc and Canfor Corporation. According to the Canadian Business Resource "…their status as the only seller of western Canadian wheat and barley positions the CWB to earn premium prices for farmers on annual sales of over 2 million tones of grain to more than 70 countries. All revenue, less marketing costs, is returned to about 85,000 Prairie farmers. The CWB has a proud reputation for high-quality products, reliable supply and delivery and unparalleled customer support." Yet on July 27th the Conservative government told farmers they are ready to implement legislative and regulatory changes to remove the single-desk authority of the Canadian Wheat Board. http://www.theholmteam.ca/col22.WP.the_big_lie.pdf [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 4, 2006]

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