Making Political Hay out of Wheat

Both Dan Lett and Paul Samyn have weighed in on Harper & Strahl’s decision to “gag” the Canadian Wheat Board. Suffice it to say, they are not in favour of the Conservative Party’s decision.

I sincerely hope that this is a true farmer’s referendum on the efficacy of the CWB. As such, the only people whose voices should be heard on this matter are the actual CUSTOMERS of the CWB and not the CWB itself. Think of this as a rather expensive and expansive customer satisfaction survey – should the CWB be allowed to spend money filling out their own evaluation forms or goading farmers into filling out the forms “properly”? I personally don’t think so.

Both raise the issue that perhaps the Conservatives have already come to the conclusion that the CWB needs to be eradicated. Should this be true, I hope Samyn and/or Lett ferret out this nugget and expose it to all Canadians over the course of the purportedly “impartial” hearings to be conducted. Barring that, I hope Harper and Strahl are mindful of the scrutiny afforded them and go about this matter with the open mind required on this file.

If the CWB is such a great institution, I hope farmers come to the CWB’s defence. If not, I hope the customers have the final say in either eradicating or overhauling this monopoly. The customer should be king – not the CWB, Samyn, Lett, Harper or Strahl. The only people that should be allowed to make hay out of the Canadian Wheat Board review should be the farmers themselves…