I thought I would detail some corporate influence in the Conservative party/Canadian government, so here I am. Today I shall detail the…
Canadian Wheat Board
The Canadian Wheat Board was (just until now… practically) a Crown Corporation somewhat independent of the government. Meaning, the people (farmers in specific provinces) elected 10 members to run the operation, and the federal government appointed 5 – clearly those elected have a majority. De jure, in order for the Government (Parliament) to change or modify this governmental organization it would require two things:
(a) the Minister has consulted with the board about the or extension; and
(b) the producers of the grain have voted in favour of the exclusion or extension, the voting process having been determined by the Minister.
The Conservatives decided to do neither, as that would conflict with their plans to eliminate the Wheat Board as we know it. So they went ahead, introduced the legislation to change things, and got sued by the elected members of the CWB for breaking the law. And, subsequently, that’s why the government (Tories) lost in court to the CWB.
In fact, the Canadian Wheat Board, independently, decided to hold a plebiscite even though the government didn’t feel like upholding the law themselves. The farmers decided to keep it, through that vote. This was undaunting to the Conservatives, unimportant and trivial to them. It was only the law, after all.
It’s the American agricultural industry and lobbies’ disputes and disdain for the Canadian Wheat Board that possibly drove the Conservatives to this move of elimination, one could surmise. I know this is speculation, but it’s oddly convenient that American industries and corporations have shown dispute and contention with this Crown Corporation before.
Outlined by this report, brought to you by Wikileaks. It clearly shows American interests’ don’t like our Wheat Board:
Representatives of the U.S. wheat industry, as well as U.S. agricultural and trade officials, also complain that the CWB’s “monopoly” control over Canada’s wheat trade permits it to practice discriminatory pricing in international markets and thereby gains unfair competitive advantage over other wheat exporters.
This report details the U.S. even went so far as to file complaints, initiate an investigation through the UN (ITC), which eventually led to no real results, except for some minor reforms that Canada had to deal with in 2005.
If you look at an (old) update from the governmental Office of the United States Trade Representative, you will see their opening line and motto:
This Administration’s trade enforcement strategy is simple: we are focused not on process, but on producing real results that create opportunities for American workers, farmers and companies.
-Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative
Followed by a current analysis of their progression in achieving “real results that create opportunities for American workers“:
• Wheat (Canada): Canada discriminates against U.S. wheat exporters through a Canadian government-sanctioned monopoly, so the U.S. took a case to the WTO. The U.S. won a partial victory at the panel that is lending momentum to efforts to address this issue in the Doha WTO negotiations. The U.S. is also appealing other aspects of the panel’s decision.
As you can see, removing power from the Canadian Wheat Board is and was a key American interest; the better we do with our markets, the worse they do. In order for America to get preferential treatment, our well-being and control has to decline. They couldn’t get the meaningful results they wanted through international ruling and action, but thankfully they have one Stephen Harper to derail the Wheat Board domestically.
After a long-trotted attempt to remove Canadian dominance over the Canadian market by the American agricultural industries and lobbyists, and after not getting large or meaningful results through UN mitigation, they luckily have the Conservatives.
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Stephen Harper’s and the Conservatives unlawful and unpopular decision (as outlined by the plebiscite) doesn’t make too much sense if you look at this incident merely domestically; when you take a view with American industrial interests in mind, perhaps it appears to make a little more sense. The farming industries in America are indeed far more powerful and rich than any in Canada, as they just produce more wheat and other agriculture, naturally. We have borders for a reason, to make sure we can do well even if bordering nations are bigger and more powerful than us. The Conservatives remove this protective barrier; even the protective barrier in the law hasn’t slowed down the Conservatives one bit either. The legislation to remove the CWB was unaffected by the illegality of introducing it in the first place.
Not only that, with the Wheat Board monopoly gone, this opens up a vast new market for American companies. It’s beyond my grasp to predict the potential profit in this area. Many governmental institutions get in the way or private profit, and the Conservatives like private profit (sometimes), so that helps explain this. It just so happens that a lot of this profit, in many instances, goes to the American companies.
Admittedly, I can not link hard evidence connecting the Conservatives to these industries. I repeat, this is speculation. What I am using is reason and logic. Why would the Conservatives pass an unpopular piece of legislation? Why would the Conservatives break the law in the process of doing so? What benefits them? Abovementioned, exclusively from a domestic and national perspective this is strange. When you factor in America and international interests, an explanation surfaces. With this, we can infer…
Especially with previous actions of clear and evident corporate connection and involvement pushing the Conservatives. Which I hope to cover sometime later.
