NEWS RELEASE

March 1, 2002                                                                                                               For Immediate Release

Breitkreuz Says The CWB Audit Should Raise Concerns

“The areas not studied need to be investigated immediately.”

OTTAWA – Today Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, commented on the Auditor General’s report on the Canadian Wheat Board that was released to the public February 27. In her report, Auditor General Sheila Fraser pointed out a number of serious deficiencies in the Board’s performance, such as the Board of Directors has become too involved in the day-to-day activities of the Wheat Board, has no long term marketing plan or strategy for the selling of grain, and has no performance criteria measurements or targets for the marketing of Western Canadian farmers’ grain. However, the Auditor General was not allowed to look at the mandate of the CWB as a monopolistic, single-desk seller of grain in Western Canada. This is a glaring omission in the Auditor General’s report.

“This audit was restricted to the CWB’s office and management systems for the year 1999-2000. The Board of Directors did not allow the Auditor General to study the role or mandate of the Board or the cost of the monopoly to farmers. The monopoly powers entrenched in the Canadian Wheat Board Act forbids farmers from managing their own risk, capturing the best price for their product and maximizing returns through value added processing,” said Breitkreuz.

The Auditor General pointed out several areas where the CWB is deficient:

• The CWB Board of Directors has become too involved in the day-to-day activities of the Wheat Board.
• The CWB has no performance criteria measurements or targets for the marketing of Western Canadian farmers’ grain.
• There is no long-term marketing plan or strategy for the selling of grain.
• The Board should inform farmers and stakeholders of key performance indicators and targets for the handling and transportation of grain and the loading of vessels.
• The Board should provide details in financial statements of all significant revenues and costs associated with the operation of the pool accounts.
• The Board would be more accountable and transparent if it explained to farmers how the price pooling policy affects the calculation of their total net-pooled returns, and provide more detailed information on returns for each pool account.

“If farmers had the choice of where to market their grain wouldn’t many of the problems that we see in this report be rectified? The Board would be forced to have performance targets, it would be forced to inform farmers on how these measures and targets are established for the handling and transportation of grain. Wouldn’t a voluntary CWB mean more accountability to farmers and a more transparent organization?” asked Breitkreuz. The glaring omissions in this audit are the things that farmers want to know about. The CWB is a monopoly with no transparent operations, so in light of this an audit needs to be done to find out whether the Board is maximizing the return to farmers.

Breitkreuz today in the House of Commons asked the Auditor General the following questions: are farmers getting a good deal in comparison to producers in competing countries? Are taxpayers being well served by the Board’s handling of its own operations? What if farmers could by-pass the Board and add value to their product by processing grain and marketing it independently? Would organic producers of quality wheat and barley benefit if they could market their own product? Finally, how do farmers benefit, in a monopoly situation when they are forced to buy television advertising through the CWB during the Winter Olympics?

The CWB Board of Directors has accepted the report, but this does not quell the push for changes with the Wheat Board. “This report was very critical of the CWB and will likely be brushed off by the government and the Board’s directors. A more recent study by the Auditor General must be done to see if anything has changed as a result of this report,” noted Breitkreuz.

“Until we have an accountable, transparent Wheat Board that would allow for value-added processing and the sale of organic grains with out penalty, doubts will remain in the minds of farmers,” concluded Breitkreuz.

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