Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wheat Kings

The monopsony Canadian Wheat Board is planning to have a vote to see how many of the 70,000 Western farmers want out of the pool.
 


Eliminating the CWB is the right move.  Ag Minister Gerry Ritz is correct in saying that farmers should be able to choose who they sell their grain to.

This vote is likely a sham. It's non-binding anyway. But how many of the farmers will actually vote?  How are they voting?  Are they being lobbied?  It seems like a political ploy by this monopsony and nothing more.

Canada Post strike. Air Canada strike. And now the Wheat Board.  Methinks unions of mostly monopolistic corporations are flexing their muscle against the Conservative government.

That said, after watching the documentary "Food Inc.", I'd hate for a private corporation to run all the grain in Canada like they bully American farmers with law suits and this is an argument by the CWB to maintain its existence and control while canola farmers are doing just fine in a free market.

This only continues to solidify my distaste for monopolies and monopsonies whether run by government, as an oligarchy, as crown corporations, or as private business.

And let's not forget, the CWB only applies to parts of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.  Ontario and the rest of Canada are not part of it. 

It's time to end it.

1 comment:

Jewn said...

And let's not forget, the CWB only applies to parts of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Ontario and the rest of Canada are not part of it.

why not the rest of Canada is what we want to know.

I guarantee you: Quebec, ontario and others in central and eastern canada would not like the idea of being told how to run and sell their wheat at the open market when western canada has that opportunity.

Well, same here, we want that opportunity.....to sell our grains without been told.