Wheat Board Suing Government to Stay Alive

With its existence on the line, the wheat board says it can't be done away with without the approval of its farmer members.

The Canadian Wheat Board is suing the federal government over its plans to end the board's monopoly, with the director slamming the Conservatives for acting like a "dictatorship." Allen Oberg, the CWB's director, said ending the board's monopoly, in which they're the sole purchaser and marketer of wheat and barley from farmers across the Prairies, would threaten the livelihood of family farms and open up the wheat and barley industries to American businesses interests. About 62 per cent of wheat farmers say they want the board to be kept (only 51 per cent of barley farmers say so), but the Tories are intent on getting rid of its monopoly so that farmers can sell their crops for however much they want and to whomever they want. The lawsuit will argue that any changes to the wheat board would have to be approved by the farmers as well, although the Tories say that having a majority gives them free reign to do what they want with it.