The Western Canadian Wheat Growers say that proposed changes to the Canadian Wheat Board election rules tabled on Friday in the House of Commons are a step in the right direction but don’t go far enough.
“It’s a good start but it doesn’t go far enough in preventing hobby farmers and retired farmers from having undue influence on CWB election results,” says Kevin Bender, President of the Wheat Growers. “Those who depend on farming for their livelihood will continue to see their votes cancelled out by those who have very little skin in the game.”
Changes to the CWB director election rules will allow anyone in western Canada who produces 40 tonnes of grain in the election year, or in either of the two previous crop years to be eligible to vote. The legislation also continues to allow landlords the ability to vote if they have a minimum 40 tonne crop-share.
“Forty tonnes is a ridiculously low threshold,” says Gerrid Gust, Chair of the Wheat Growers. “It represents the production of wheat from roughly 40 acres, which is a quarter of the 160 acre parcel that homesteaders were granted more than a century ago.”
The Wheat Growers call on legislators to increase the minimum threshold to at least 320 tonnes, the production from a half-section, which is still below the viable production threshold for the vast majority of prairie grain farms.
While disappointed in the modest change to CWB election rules, The Wheat Growers are pleased to see a streamlining of the process for government approval of increases in initial payments. This streamlining will allow farmers to gain access to their money on a timelier basis.
The Wheat Growers would have preferred even greater CWB election reforms, including the appointment of an independent elections commission, a weighted ballot, and a re-balancing of the election districts, however we recognize there is too little time to get such amendments enacted in time for the upcoming elections this fall. In light of this, the Wheat Growers are prepared to support the proposed legislation, with the recommendation that the Bill be amended at Committee to increase the minimum threshold to 320 tonnes or higher.
