Federal NDP seeking emergency debate on CWB sale
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2015 (3268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA – The NDP is asking Parliament to have an emergency debate next week regarding the sale of the Canadian Wheat Board to foreign companies.
Winnipeg MP Pat Martin has written to Speaker Andrew Scheer giving notice he will seek leave in the House on Monday for an emergency debate after the government announced this week it was selling a majority stake in the CWB to G3 Global Grains, a joint venture of the Canadian wing of the American agribusiness firm Bunge Ltd. and Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company Canada Ltd.
Martin said the government dismissed a bid that came directly from Canadian farmers – a farmer-backed offer was rejected last fall – and, instead, is giving it to foreign companies.
“An emergency debate is required in order to allow parliamentarians to address the substantial negative consequences this decision will have on western grain producers and the competitive marketing and transport of grain in Canada,” Martin wrote.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement of the sale in Winnipeg Wednesday.
“We expect this deal will increase export capacity, add hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth across Canada,” he said at the press conference.
The Conservatives long campaigned on a promise to end the monopoly of the CWB, which required prairie wheat and barley growers to only sell their grain through the CWB. In 2012, with a majority government in hand, it finally was able to make good on that promise. It also gave the CWB five years to find a buyer or said it would be shut down.
For now G3 will own 50.1 per cent of the company, which will remain based in Winnipeg, and farmers who sell their grain through it will be given shares in the remaining 49.9 per cent. In seven years G3 will be able to buy out the farmer shares at market value.
In an emailed statement from his office today, Ritz dismissed the call for an emergency debate, saying moves like this “underscore why the NDP have and will continue to have virtually zero representation across the Prairies.”
“While the NDP would prefer to hold farmers back, the overwhelming majority of farmers are embracing the increased economic opportunities this partnership represents,” he said.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca