Conservatives to introduce legislation re Wheat Board barley marketing.

This is from Canada.com. I doubt that anyone will want to provoke an election on the issue of the Wheat Board having a monopoly on marketing barley! The Bloc Quebecois could support the Conservatives since the issue has no bearing at all really on Quebec since the Wheat Board governs marketing only in the west. However the Bloc seems anxious for an election so maybe they would not side with the government. This would be embarassing for the Liberals except that nothing embarasses them any more. They would sit on their hands or vote with the government. Canadians don't yet want an election. Translation: Our polls aren't good enough yet.


Feds to introduce legislation ending wheat board's monopoly
Mia Rabson , Winnipeg Free PressPublished: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
OTTAWA - The federal Agriculture Minister will introduce legislation as early as next month to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on prairie barley sales.
But because it's a minority government, turning Minister Gerry Ritz's legislation into law will require the support of the opposition, something neither the NDP nor the Liberals plan to provide.
Ritz delivered the news Tuesday after a controversial meeting with the wheat board and barley industry representatives. Ritz acknowledged he stacked the room with people who oppose anything short of full, open marketing choice for barley producers.


But he said those who oppose marketing choice are in favour of the status quo, which is an unacceptable position and is contrary to what farmers said in a federal plebiscite held in 2007.
Ritz said he expects the wheat board to unveil "a clear road map" by the end of this week, after the board of directors' meeting in Winnipeg.
"We agreed there is a gap between what western Canadian barley producers are asking for and what they are getting," said Ritz.
However, Ritz said he will introduce legislation before Parliament breaks in three weeks, regardless of what the wheat board does.
"We've been pushing this rock uphill for years," said Ritz. "We are willing to go it alone."
Manitoba NDP MP Pat Martin and Saskatchewan Liberal MP Ralph Goodale both said their parties would not vote in favour of ending the wheat board's single-desk system.
But Martin said he fears Prime Minister Stephen Harper will turn this bill into a vote of confidence, which means if it fails, it will trigger an election.
That could make it harder for the Liberals, in particular, to vote against it, though Goodale said he cannot imagine a scenario where the Liberals would support such a bill.
"This is a continuation of the government's supreme arrogance and their heavy-handed, thug-like tactics to try and blow (the wheat board) out of existence," said Goodale.
He said it could even be illegal, because the government by law has to ask farmers to vote on the matter, and he said last year's referendum - in which two thirds of farmers backed an end to the board's monopoly on barley sales - doesn't count.
"There is a powerful legal argument that that plebiscite was not legal," said Goodale. "Farmers must vote on the specific changes the government has in mind. That is not what the government asked last year."
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca