Board chairman vows to take the issue to court
The federal government will table a bill aimed at ending the Candian Wheat Board’s monopoly on Tuesday. In announcing the measure, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz called the Canadian Wheat Board, which requires farmers to sell their wheat and barley harvests through the agency, “yesterday’s solution to yesterday’s problems.” The board’s chairman, however, isn’t taking the news sitting. Allen Oberg plans to take the move to court, saying “the government approach is illegal and it’s against the wishes of farmers.” Indeed, a mail-in vote conducted this summer found 62 per cent of wheat farmers and 51 per cent of those producing barley want to keep it in place. The federal Conservatives have said the board can survive as a voluntary outlet, but it will have to do so without government funding.