Nothing is Clear....

The results of the Barley vote are in and the controversy does not appear to over. There have been a number of press releases complaining about the process, scrutineers (or lack of) and so on, leading up to the results of the vote becoming public. However, the results are being disputed, vigorously. This past weeks' offerings............

OTTAWA, Ontario, March 28, 2007 - The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, today announced that Canada's New Government has listened, and will deliver, to Western Canadian barley producers who voted in favour of marketing choice.

A clear majority of the farmers who cast votes in the barley plebiscite indicated they wanted to end the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on barley and have the freedom to market their own product.

"We have delivered on our promise to give farmers a voice on the future of barley marketing in Western Canada," said Minister Strahl. "Their decision in favour of marketing choice is clear and we intend to give them that that opportunity in the coming crop year."

Minister Strahl said that nearly 30,000 producers participated in the plebiscite and a majority has provided the Government with a mandate to move ahead.

"Over 60 percent of producers want to decide how to market their own product. We will now begin work on the appropriate amendments to Canadian Wheat Board regulations to remove barley from the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly," said Minister Strahl.

"We will move forward decisively because producers and the sector need clarity and market certainty. I will be consulting with the directors of the Canadian Wheat Board about the changes we will be making," said Minister Strahl. "It is the Government's intention that marketing choice for Western Canada's barley growers - including an option to continue to sell to the Canadian Wheat Board - will be reality by August 1 of this year."

For the results and more information on marketing choice, please visit
www.agr.gc.ca/cwb.******************************

For Immediate Release March 28, 2007

Agriculture and Food
FLAWED PROCESS SKEWS WHEAT BOARD PLEBISCITE RESULTS

Saskatchewan's Agriculture Minister said today that his federal counterpart has no mandate to change the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).

Mark Wartman said federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl was repeatedly warned about the need for clarity in the plebiscite on barley marketing, but refused to listen.

"We told the Minister that there would be problems with the results if he followed the process that he did," Wartman said. "And now, we have 45 per cent of producers in Saskatchewan favouring the CWB single desk and less than 13 per cent wanting the CWB out of barley marketing. I can get no clarity from this result. Those choosing the option to have both the CWB and an open market did so for a variety of reasons."

Wartman said he is not surprised by this outcome, given the three option plebiscite design and the inclusion of the impossible "best of both worlds" second option.

"We warned Minister Strahl that this would confuse the issue and we now find ourselves with no clear result," Wartman said.

Wartman added that the plebiscite was designed to produce the result the federal government sought. It was not designed for farmers to have a real say on the marketing systems they support. He posed several questions for Minister Strahl:

1. The federal government's own Task Force noted that it would be
difficult for the CWB to operate in an open market and the CWB yesterday indicated that it could provide no value in an open, multiple-seller market.

What has changed to make this a viable option?

2. Will the Minister pursue a similar approach on supply management, asking producers of those commodities if they want supply management and choice? Will he give them a similar three question plebiscite?

3. Why is Ottawa not prepared to respect the direction provided by the
producer-elected directors of the CWB?