Canadian
Wheat Board’s District #2's Elected Director
Jim Chatenay's Message to CWB Directors
My name is Jim Chatenay and I am District #2's
elected CWB Director. This open letter provides information and
facts to CWB Chairman Ritter and to my fellow Directors. It
represents the views of CWB District #2, and includes the growing number
of other producers who share this same view, relying upon me to bring
their views forward.
First of all, a large and growing number of Canadians have great
difficulty in accepting that Alberta farmers will be going to jail for
selling grain; yet, farmers in Ontario will not. Both are governed
by the same legislation.
All movement of grain requires CWB licensing, yet Ontario has even gone
so far as issuing their own export license when crossing the border, and
were not charged by Customs for lacking an authentic CWB export license.
Some Albertans, such as myself, will be sentenced to 62 days in jail,
under the Customs Act, which clouds my exporting a mere 55 lb. bag of
wheat (donated to a Montana 4-H Club). We, the Directors of the
CWB, are directly responsible for this situation because it is within
our power to order the Licensing Department to issue or deny an export
license to each applicant. We consistently deny licenses to
Prairie farmers.
The CWB is solely responsible for granting or denying CWB licenses which
are required for interprovincial and export movement of grain. Our
policy is to grant licenses based upon where farmers live, but as a
farmer controlled organization, do we not have a duty to act in the best
interests of all Canadian farmers and issue licenses fairly and
equitably? At the present time, our licensing policy supports only
single-desk licensing in the Designated Area, yet the licensing
legislation applies equally to all Canadians. My constituents call
this discrimination. They ask if the CWB could be liable for
discriminatory licensing practices against Designated Area farmers. I
don’t know what the answers are.
The second comment I want to make is that the voters in District #2 have
taken exception to the CWB spending millions of dollars on
self-image advertising that mainly promotes how the CWB
“maximizes returns” to producers. Looking at the 4 grain
pools, District #2 farmers say prices can be “maximized” in
the following ways:
- CWB Feed Barley Account
District #2 farmers bypass selling into the CWB feed barley pool
because of meager Board returns. Farmers maximize their own returns
by selling to feedlots, etc.
- CWB Malt Barley Account
Malt barley is totally controlled by the single desk. District
#2 farmers often sell their malt barley to the open feed market
because they receive more than the CWB malt barley market price
offering.
- CWB Wheat Pool Account
Many farmers from District #2 have switched from growing hard red
spring wheat for the CWB to growing CPS wheat for themselves. They
are now enjoying much higher yields and are putting more dollars in
their pockets by marketing their own wheat through the attractive
domestic feed venues.
- CWB Durum Pool Account
Few in District #2 grow durum, but those who do are close to the
border, and claim they could easily access lucrative US markets
more effectively and efficiently without the CWB .
Lastly, I presented the farmers' questions to each
of my fellow Directors on April 9, 2002, on behalf of
District #2, along with a formal request for written answers that
I can hand out to farmers. They remain unanswered. Additionally,
the “21 Questions” farmers asked, remain unanswered.
Farmers deserve answers and I urge my fellow Board Members
to support my requests for recorded answers to these questions. In
the interest of all farmers, my efforts at being responsible to them, as
well as being open and transparent to them, will continue.
Yours truly,
Jim Chatenay,
Canadian Wheat Board Director
Phone (403) 886-4632 |
