OTTAWA - Western Canadian barley farmers who have spent years lobbying for the right to choose how they market their grain could finally get their wish this summer.
Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said Wednesday that 62 per cent of the 29,000 farmers who cast eligible ballots in a plebiscite voted to either have the Canadian Wheat Board participate in a competitive market, or stop dealing with barley altogether.
Strahl called the results "unequivocal'' and says he'll now take steps to get the cabinet approval needed to remove the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly by August, in time for the start of the crop year.
"I think all of us, from grain companies to the wheat board to governments, have an obligation to listen to the clear majority of people who say it's time to move to more marketing choice,'' said Strahl.
But the board says it won't give up its monopoly without a fight.
Chairman Ken Ritter says the farmer-elected board of directors will consider a legal challenge when they meet to discuss the latest developments.
Ritter says the board has looked at how it could compete with multinational grain companies and still earn money for farmers, and it has concluded it can't be done without millions of dollars in government help to buy port facilities and elevators.
"It's like telling someone to leap across the Grand Canyon and when you don't, saying 'Well, gee, you failed,'" said Ritter, who farms near Kindersley, Sask. "It's just not reasonable.''
Ritter says the board may decide to voluntarily opt out of the barley market, but he acknowledges it's unclear whether the government could force the board to continue selling on behalf of those farmers who want to support the board.
The Western Barley Growers Association was among the farm groups who support Strahl's plan and who travelled to Ottawa for Wednesday's announcement.
President Jeff Nielsen, 44, who farms near Olds, Alta., says he has wanted the right to decide how he markets his barley ever since he got his first permit book at the age of 15.
He said he was delighted with the plebiscite results and Strahl's plan to act quickly to implement them.
"What we see are greater opportunities to contract directly with maltsters, the possibility of making sales outside of Canada through our grain-handling system, or individually -- we now have that opportunity,'' said Nielsen.
The wheat board, backed by the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments and several large farm lobby groups, have said the plebiscite has been flawed from the beginning.
They point to the fact farmers were given three choices, not two; that many farmers got more than one ballot; and farmers could be identified by numbers printed on both their ballots and the return envelopes.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Mark Wartman accused to federal Conservatives of "manufacturing consent'' to get the results they wanted.
Federal Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said Strahl is trying to drive an open market down farmers' throats.
"The minister knows, if he's being honest, that the proposal he put forward is based on a false choice and fraudulent vote,'' said Easter.
But the biggest problem, as Ritter sees it, is that Strahl now plans to change the Canadian Wheat Board Act by a cabinet regulation and not by an amendment that would need to pass in the minority Parliament.
"I don't know where he's coming at this from,'' said Ritter.
"Certainly our reading of the legislation would indicate that the process I heard announced this morning is not consistent with what I have been advised would be required to change law.''
Strahl is confident he's on solid legal ground and urged the wheat board to meet with the government to plan a smooth transition.
A total of about 86,000 ballots were mailed to farmers based on crop insurance data collected by the consulting firm KPMG, which ran the plebiscite for the government.
Of those, about 57,000 farmers were considered eligible voters. A total of 29,067 -- or 51 per cent -- actually mailed in ballots.
Strahl said many eligible voters said they didn't bother to vote because they only sell their barley to feed lots, not the wheat board.
"All you can do is throw the doors wide open and encourage people to participate.''
Support for maintaining the status quo was highest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (51 and 45 per cent), while voters in Alberta and British Columbia showed strong support for the option of selling to either the wheat board or other buyers (63 and 49 per cent).
A total of 38 per cent of voters wanted the board to keep its monopoly.
