Freedom of exploitation

The CP points out that the likely effects of dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board are already well known. And for all the Cons' talk about "freedom", the only real freedom which would result from gutting the CWB is that of corporate giants to profiteer at the expense of any independent producers who dare to try to continue in that role:

Alberta's beef producers already know what happens when multinational food giants dominate the market. Now, with the future of the Canadian Wheat Board in doubt, there are fears of diminished profits if U.S. grain buyers are left to do the same thing.

"If the federal government is able to kill the only real Canadian, farmer-owned marketing arm, which is the wheat board, then we would be faced with the same situation that the beef producers are now," says Stewart Wells, president of the National Farmers Union.

Canada's beef packing industry is dominated by two huge U.S.-based companies, Cargill and Tyson Foods, both with slaughterhouses in southern Alberta. Cargill also has one of the largest cattle herds in the country.

This allows the company to buy from itself to guarantee a steady supply of beef. Farm groups and producers say this tactic gives Cargill an advantage over ranchers trying to get the best price for their cattle.

In 2004, several farm groups pushed unsuccessfully for a law to forbid major meat packers from owning cattle to prevent them from using their own herds to manipulate prices...

The grain industry has rarely experienced the wild price swings that have occurred in the beef industry as a result of the mad cow crisis.

But profiteering in the beef industry has been widely publicized. Cattle ownership by Cargill and Tyson resulted in the firms getting $45 million of the $400 million in mad cow compensation from the Alberta government a few years ago.

Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn said this drove down cattle prices and helped the companies triple their profits.

Art Macklin, a former wheat board director, cites recent examples of what could happen with grain prices if private buyers are left to dominate the market.

"We had a surplus in durum for the last two or three years," says Macklin, who operates a mixed farm in northern Alberta. "If the wheat board had not regulated the supply into that market, we would have driven down prices.

"That's exactly what will happen if the big companies control the market and we have a surplus," he said. "They will not manage supply for the benefit of producers. The weakest seller will then set the price."

Needless to say, that kind of outcome can only be disastrous for the producers involved - even those who may be able to make a few extra bucks at the beginning before the power disparity between purchasers and producers becomes entrenched.

But for the Cons, mere price manipulation and profiteering is apparently a small cost to pay for the opportunity to put producers at the mercy of big agribusiness. And that view regarding the Wheat Board should lead to nothing but justified suspicion about where they plan to take the rest of the economy as well.