CWB Act Amendments Tabled

OTTAWA - May 27/08 - SNS -- The number of "farmers" eligible to vote in elections for Canadian Wheat Board directors should be reduced under amendments to the Canadian Wheat Board Act tabled today in the House of Commons.

Under the amendment, grain producers will have had to grow a minimum of 120 metric tons (MT) of wheat or barley in either of the two crop years preceeding the election of directors.

"You earn the right to call yourself a farmer by growing crops, not by filing paperwork," Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board said in tabling Bill C-57. "This Government is making sure the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) listens to real farmers by introducing this legislation to give farmers a stronger voice in director elections."

He asserts the current legislation allows any producer to vote in director elections. Many producers who are named in a permit book have retired, rented out their land, or only grow small amounts of grain as a hobby.