NEWS RELEASE

June 20, 1996   For Immediate Release

BREITKREUZ SUPPORTS GIVING FARMERS MORE CHOICES IN GRAIN MARKETING

"96.3% of my constituents think the CWB should be open and accountable to the farmers."

Ottawa - Yesterday, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, participated in an all-day debate of a Reform Motion calling for a special two year opting out provision in the Canadian Wheat Board Act. The provision would give prairie wheat and barley producers the flexibility and choice to market their grain outside the jurisdiction of the CWB.

During the debate, Breitkreuz released the results of his constituency survey on the future of the CWB:

- 96.3% of 563 respondents think the operations of the Canadian Wheat Board should be open and accountable to the farmers they serve.

- 80.5% of 553 respondents think the government should hold a plebiscite of all Saskatchewan farmers and producers regarding the future of the Canadian Wheat Board.

- 73.9% of 537 respondents think producers have a right to sell their grain, including wheat and barley, anywhere they want.

- 66.1% of 546 respondents do not think the Canadian Wheat Board should continue to have a monopoly on wheat and barley sales in Western Canada.

- 51.9% of 470 respondents think the government should exempt wheat and barley shipped through the Port of Churchill from the authority of the Canadian Wheat Board.

The results of Breitkreuz' surveys are consistent with the results of a November 1995 survey conducted by the Saskatchewan Government. Seventy per cent (70%) of the respondents support allowing individual farmers to sell their grain directly to the domestic food market, such as flour mills and malting plants, without going through the Canadian Wheat Board. And, exactly half of the respondents wanted to allow farmers to sell their grain directly to the United States market without going through the wheat board.

"Whose wheat is it?" asked Breitkreuz. "Does the wheat belong to the government, to the Canadian Wheat Board or to the farmer? Why not let the farmers control their own affairs? Why does the government need to intervene in their affairs and have this heavy-handed way of controlling absolutely everything that is happening in wheat marketing? Why are the Liberals afraid to let the Auditor General of Canada audit the Wheat Board's books? What have they got to hide? Is this openness and accountability?" he asked.

"The Minister of Agriculture says farmers should put all their hopes on the report of his grain marketing panel, while at the same time he vehemently defends the Canadian Wheat Board as it is currently operating. This is an obvious contradiction. Goodale can't be impartial if he has already entrenched himself by supporting the status quo, and using the full force of the Canada Customs bureaucracy to harass, threaten and intimidate western grain farmers," challenged Breitkreuz.

It's obvious that my constituents want changes to the way the Canadian Wheat Board operates starting with more openness and accountability. For example, it is simply unacceptable that the Wheat Board will not allow the Auditor General of Canada to have a look at their books and their operations. That's not openness and accountability. What have they got to hide?" asked Breitkreuz.

"The two year opting out provision would be a good test of the system to see how farmers and markets would respond to more freedom and choice in how they market their wheat and barley. Nothing is more fundamental to democracy and to the free enterprise system as property rights and freedom of contract. It's the farmer's wheat and barley and they should have control over how their property is marketed --whether that be single-desk selling or dual marketing," concluded Breitkreuz.

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For more information please call:

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309

Ottawa: (613) 992-4394