national
farmers union
national
farmers unionSWIFT CURRENT, Sask-"The draft CWB election regulations would allow non-farmers to seek election to the 10 farmer-elected positions on the 15 member CWB Board of Directors proposed in Bill C-4. Electing non-farmers would seriously erode farmer control, a stated aim of Bill C-4," said NFU Region 6 (Saskatchewan) Coordinator Stewart Wells.
"Most farmers have the understanding that Bill C-4, an Act to Amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act, guarantees that farmers will occupy 10 of the 15 spots on the new Board of Directors. However, no such guarantees are contained in the draft regulations. Quite to the contrary, the draft regulations proposed by the Liberal government pave the way for non-farmer candidates," said Wells.
Rule 4 of the draft regulations states that "Candidates are not required to possess a CWB permit book." The discussion points which follow state that it would "make sense to permit non-producer candidates to run for the elected positions...."
"Non-farmers would only have to win three elections before farmers would find themselves a minority on any CWB Board of Directors," said Wells. He went on to point out that the draft regulations contradict Minister Goodale's October 1997 statement, sent to all farmers, which said: "All of the directors, whether elected (10) or appointed (5) will have the same powers, duties, and functions. But farmers will hold a two-thirds majority." In the same document, Goodale states: "Through its elected Directors, the CWB will gain the practical expertise of real producers."
Wells continued: "Minister Goodale must not mistake non-farmer grain company officials and employees for farmers." Wells urged farmers who were concerned by the potential for non-farmer candidates to contact the NFU and to make their concerns known to Minister Goodale.
"This discussion of electing non-farmers to represent farmers only adds to our list of unacceptable ideas such as: the contingency fund, cash buying, loss of adjusted initial price guarantees, loss of Crown Agency status, and variable pooling periods--all of which are included in C-4," concluded Wells.
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