photo courtesy of the office of the Prime Minister

A group of Saskatchewan farmers travelled to the House of Commons in Ottawa recently to hear the third reading of Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act. They are photographed with the Members of Parliament that supported the bill.

 

 

His uncle would have been proud today. Dale Mainil is the nephew of the late Art Mainil, who passed away just last month, and was well known in the ag sector for his firm belief in marketing choice. Their family is celebrating the passage of a historic bill to end the 68-year-old Canadian Wheat Board single desk system.

Dale, who farms near Weyburn with his father Jerry and brothers Michael and Dennis, was recently part of a group of about 60 producers supporting marketing freedom that travelled to Ottawa a few weeks ago to see Bill C-18 receive its third reading in the House of Commons.

Today Art’s dream is a step closer now that Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act, has been given Royal Assent. The legislation, given Royal Assent by Governor General David Johnston last night, gives Western Canadian grain farmers the right to market their own wheat and barley, effective August 1, 2012, when the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly over western wheat and barley farmers will end.

Dale says that marketing freedom is important to all farmers, big or small, and that the CWB is restrictive and outdated.

"There's only one other country in the world that has the same type of marketing system and that's North Korea," says Dale. "Everywhere else in the free world has marketing choice and I don't think that's too much to ask."

Dale says the federal government is doing a good job of representing the majority of farmers and refers to the barley plebiscite that was done in 2007 by then Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl.

"That never gets talked about but 65 per cent was for choice - for dual-marketing. The Wheat Board's not going away its just giving us, the producers who want to market outside the Wheat Board a choice. The Wheat Board will still be there, people who want to market it through it will still have that option, but me, as a producer, if I so choose to market independent of it, I have that right."

Meanwhile, the CWB, shorn of its eight remaining elected director, announced in Winnipeg that an application seeking an injunction against the implementation of Bill C-18 before the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench would be dropped.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was found to have broken the law by a federal court judge earlier this month for failing to consult with the CWB and farmers before moving to eliminate the single desk. He says the court actions would not effect the implementation of Bill C-18.

As of today, western wheat and barley farmers have the ability to forward contract for the delivery of wheat and barley to the CWB or the buyer of their choice for delivery after August 1, 2012.

 

Officials of the CWB say the single desk will continue to be in place for the remainder of the 2011-12 crop year.

"Marketing choice is going to add dollars to our operation and I believe whether you're big or small right across Western Canada, its going to open up a whole diverse industry as far as new marketers, young marketers," says Dale. "People are just really going to be anticipating the chance to start up a whole new industry and that's what's going to happen, its going to create lots of jobs - its a win-win."

Dale says he is glad that the hard work of his uncle Art Mainil has not been in vain.