Canadian Acreage Competition to Stiffen

VANCOUVER - Oct 27/11 - SNS -- Competition for land use among crops will stiffen once western Canadian farmers and other market participants are certain the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) monopoly is over.

The CWB has launched a lawsuit aimed at getting the courts to prevent parliament from amending the legislation under which the federal agency operates. CWB board chair Allen Oberg argues that Section 47.1 of the act prevents makes it impossible for parliament to the amend the act without first holding a plebiscite.

Section 47.1 of the 1985 version of the Canadian Wheat Board Act states:

The Minister shall not cause to be introduced in Parliament a bill that would exclude any kind, type, class or grade of wheat or barley, or wheat or barley produced in any area in Canada, from the provisions of Part IV, either in whole or in part, or generally, or for any period, or that would extend the application of Part III or Part IV or both Parts III and IV to any other grain, unless

(a) the Minister has consulted with the board about the exclusion or extension; and

(b) the producers of the grain have voted in favour of the exclusion or extension, the voting process having been determined by the Minister.

Part IV of the act is the section which gives the CWB its monopoly over inter-provincial and export trade of wheat, durum and barley.