THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011
VOL. 89 | NO. 30 | $3.75
THE DARK SIDE OF SPRAYING P20 SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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HOGS DIE IN HUTTERITE COLONY FIRE
CANADIAN AID | EAST AFRICA
Canada adds $50 million in aid to help East Africans People are ‘dying in massive numbers:’ Oxfam BY BARRY WILSON OTTAWA BUREAU
This hog was one of about 100 that were saved when a fire destroyed a hog barn and another building at the Sandhills Colony near Beiseker, Alta., July 24. About another 500 hogs were either killed by the fire or needed to be put down because of injuries. Fire departments were called in from Strathmore, Beiseker, Rosebud, and Dalum to fight the fire. The cause of the blaze remains undetermined. | KEVIN LINK PHOTO
Canada has announced a major increase in government support for East African drought relief, making it the second largest donor in the world. On July 22, international co-operation minister Bev Oda announced a $50 million contribution and a commitment to match Canadian donations made between July 6 and Sept. 16. The money is on top of an earlier $22.35 million pledge. She had just finished visiting the Dadaab refuge camp in Kenya, which was built for 90,000 refugees and is now straining with close to 400,000, making it the world’s largest refugee camp. access=subscriber section=news,none,none
SEE CANADA INCREASES, PAGE 3
Open market will kill CWB: chair Chair Allen Oberg says the wheat board would be ‘wound down’ if single desk is totally eliminated BY BRIAN CROSS SASKATOON NEWSROOM
The Canadian Wheat Board will be gone within months if the federal government insists on ending all aspects of Western Canada’s single desk marketing system, said the CWB chair. Allen Oberg said the wheat board has no chance of surviving in a completely open market. Oberg said the CWB will contact federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz seeking further clarification on whether Ottawa is committed to eliminating the single desk entirely or whether it would be willing to protect some part of it. “If the single desk is removed, the (CWB) will be wound down, there’s no argument about that,” Oberg said. “We’re going to seek further clarity
ALLEN OBERG CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD CHAIR
from the federal government as to their level of commitment, if any, to the creation of a new organization.” A government decision to retain some elements of the single desk might allow the board, or some derivative entity, to continue operating in some capacity, he added. At meetings in Winnipeg last week, CWB directors analyzed 19 alternative marketing structures to deter-
mine if any would provide a significant benefit to farmers. According to Oberg, the board concluded that none delivered the same level of benefits to farmers as the single desk. “We have basically completed our analysis on that,” Oberg said. “And we once again came to our conclusion that there’s no alternative out there that offers anywhere close to the same kind of value that the current single desk does.” Some marketing models that confer single desk powers over a portion of the market might provide some additional value to farmers, Oberg suggested. One such structure — the retention of single desk powers over export sales but not domestic sales — has the potential to add considerable value to prairie farmers’ bottom lines, he said.
But retaining any part of the singledesk structure would require a significant softening of Ottawa’s position and does not appear to be in the cards, he added. “With what the minister has said, and the way it looks like he intends to proceed, those types of alternatives will not be on the table because he’s calling for a total elimination of the single desk by Aug. 1 next year. “We’re still hoping that they (Ottawa) will respect the decision of farmers in this plebiscite but … (if ) they choose to ignore that and … if the single desk is removed, the organization will be wound down.” CWB directors also agreed that Ottawa, not farmers, should cover all costs associated with winding down the board. access=subscriber section=news,markets,none
SEE OPEN MARKET, PAGE 2
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CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD | OUTLOOK
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