Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 14, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Wheat Board / continued from Page a1 Morriss claims the boards main opponents today Are Farmers living along the Border who can easily truck wheat to american Grain elevators when the . Spot Price a a daily Price that goes up and Down with great rapidity a is higher than the wheat boards Price. A a it a like us sitting in the mess Hall and because in a sitting closest to the Kitchen in a going to get All the Stew and All you re going to eat Are the potatoes a says Morriss whose new Book is Hoiosen instrument ii the second volume of his history of the Canadian wheat Board. Canadas two National newspapers regularly slam the wheat Board As a last bastion of socialism and an anachronism to Canadas past. Both the Globe and mail and National Post claim the wheat Board stifles flour milling pasta production and other Grain processing on the Prairies. Nonsense says sol Ranee Winnipeg a former a flour King who owned Soo line flour Mills for 40 years. His Mill is now owned by american food giant Archer Daniels Midland and is Winnipeg a last surviving flour Mill. The wheat Board supported his flour business and helped him make International sales says Ranee. It invited him along on International missions bringing him face to face with the largest flour buyers in the world. A that criticism is coming from the Eastern newspapers. I done to think i have to say anything says Ranee an order of Canada recipient. Grain processing what has Hurt Grain processing in Western Canada says Morriss is not the wheat Board but the fact that importing countries want to process Grain to get the jobs. So they erected Trade barriers to limit imports of processed product like flour but not raw product like wheat. Even the last world Trade organization agreement get such countries As Japan to drop Trade Walls protecting their Grain processing industries. Yet i no a former executive with Pioneer Grain the Richardson family owned Grain company says he believes Rural Manitoba s largest Chrysler dealer w amp Hie ilk by r j to u 2000 caravan 2000 Neon be air conditioning Power windows Power locks tilt cruise cassette v6, dual sliding doors 7 passenger evaluation vehicle #21202 Srp $26,630 21,499 air conditioning automatic cruise control tilt dual airbags cassette Low pm s #c21044. Only i 3or 131 pent biweekly 2000 Dakota club cab 4x4 sport sport pkg., v6 magnum engine air conditioning cassette floor Mats anti spin differential tilt cruise front Stabilizer bar #21381 Srp $28,935 24.900 99 Amnia us cd player leather Interior 3 51 v6 engine air Power windows amp locks Power seats special Purchase special Deal #999056 29,900 do a Rylor discount. Freight is included. Taxes extra i prices after i 5 veer buyback program. See us for details. Sale ends May 15th because a great Deal is closer than you think Steinbach Dodge a Chrysler a jeep i-800-490- jeep 5337 a total 1-204-326-4461 opm9-9mon.-fri.sat.til6 208 main St. Steinbach Quot the automobile City Quot Fth Fuess fue photo Lang the wheat Board lacks clout the wheat Board monopoly no longer has the clout to fetch Farmers higher prices. A a lot of its marketing advantage is gone today with the Price being set More by american Grain than anything else a Lang maintains although that is a contentious argument. Lang says he believes today a private Grain Trade can offer Farmers All the benefits of a wheat Board including Price pooling. The wheat boards Price pooling is a bit like a Mutual fund. Instead of Farmers trying to sell into Market highs a and risking hitting the lows instead a wheat marketing is left to the wheat Board. Farmers receive the average Price for wheat for the year. A dumb move a pooling really Means the Farmer can take an average Price without being a marketer himself. I think he can get that advantage probably by tying in with a marketing program of an existing Grain company a says. But Lang gets an argument from Peculiar quarters a Dick Dawson the retired senior vice president of Cargill Ltd. Dawson says Farmers would simply be a a dumb to give up the Cwb. A a we re being forced to break out of a Mould that a worked for so to 60 years and its worked bloody Well. The Overall scorecard for the wheat Board would be a Strong one a says Dawson who Heads consulting firm fulcrum associates. In fact a Daryl Kraft study from 1996, considered in Industry circles to be the most thorough and balanced on the subject disputes Lang a Contention that the wheat Board monopoly does no to extract higher prices. The Kraft study found the wheat boards monopoly was a big advantage for Farmers adding an average of $13.35 per tonne on wheat sold. For a Farmer seeding 400 hectares of wheat that a $15,000 to $20,000 More per year. Dawson also disagrees with the theory which has gained currency in recent Portage and main built around Grain you a think it would be hard to miss the Grain Industry a influence on Winnipeg but Many Winni Eggers miss it anyway. After All. Many of the buildings at and near Portage and main were built with Money from Grain sales. There a the Richardson building the Cargill building the Canadian wheat Board building the old United Grain growers building the old Grain Exchange building the Triec building the Winnipeg commodity Exchange Tower and the Canadian Grain commission building the one with the mushroom top. And around the Grain companies a who needed to borrow Money constantly to fill the lag Between when they purchased the Farmers Grain and when they delivered that Grain to the customer s port a grew the financial houses Quot Bankers Row Quot on main Street the regal old Bank buildings just off Portage Avenue clustered near the Grain Industry to provide that service. Today the Grain Industry is estimated to be Worth about 10,000 jobs to Winnipeg most of those jobs Are downtown. While other businesses have largely fled the downtown the Grain Industry remains its most important tenant. Years that creation of the wheat Board prevented Winnipeg from growing like Minneapolis. A has the controlled growth pattern we be been in decreased individual entrepreneurial energies i suspect it has Quot Dawson says. However he maintains a bigger Factor was a Federal policy that made it cheaper to produce raw materials in Western Canada and ship them East for processing a so Eastern Canada got the jobs. Dawson blames the Crow nest pass freight rate that subsidized shipping Grain by rail for Export but not the transportation of livestock and some processed products for stunting Winnipeg a growth. A i think those factors were of greater significance than any Canadian wheat Board a Dawson said. If the wheat Board lost its monopoly and shut Down could Winnipeg also lose its Grain Industry being the Grain Industry Centre of Canada is probably Worth up to 10,000 jobs to Winnipeg most of those Well paying downtown jobs. The wheat boards status As a Crown corporation ensures that it would never relocate a without exacting a huge political Price. However if Farmers decided to abolish the wheat Board would Grain Industry head offices move elsewhere such As to Calgary Grain company Louis Dreyfus Canada Ltd. Recently moved its head office to Calgary blaming Winnipeg a High property taxes or would much of the Industry move to the United states would Winnipeg a Grain Industry become just another Branch Plant of american multinational companies Lang does no to see it that Way. A a you a still have a key group of people operating in Canada and probably in Winnipeg on behalf of Colagra adm Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill. There might even be More people a he says. A when you look at the states there Are head offices in a tremendous array of towns that Are not the big ones. So Why that apply to Calgary and Winnipeg As Well a Lang asks. Cost cutting still the Way companies Are Cost cutting and trying to reduce duplication and the Way new technologies Are growing most people interviewed concede its possible the local Industry could depart in significant numbers if the wheat Board were abolished. As Well much of Canadas food processing has been bought up by american companies in the last decade. Archer Daniels Midland now owns Dominion malting on Dugald Road and Colagra owns Canada malting. The canola crushing Industry which started out 100-per-cent Canadian owned is now virtually 100-per-cent american owned except for Canamero a partnership Between the Grain co Ops and american firm Central soya. Ditto for the flour milling Industry. Recently other multinational Grain companies have moved into the Prairies sensing the demise of the Canadian wheat Board. For example Colagra spent about $35 million to build three High throughput elevators in Western Canada and Louis Dreyfus spent almost $50 million on four High throughput elevators. A the major agricultural companies around the Globe Are not Only predominantly ., but Are also privately owned a observes Don Bousquet Market analyst with farm Market news. It should be made Clear that the wheat Board is not a government subsidy. The wheat Board Isnit paid for by government. Its paid for out of Farmers returns. Traditionally polls and plebiscites show one third of Farmers favour the wheat Board one third oppose it and one third want dual marketing which history has shown is probably a pipe dream. Tomorrow a the Canadian wheat Board lovers and haters. A life win Centre volunteering is Cool we guarantee it to Volunteer Call the coordinator at 989-8368 a be tart of it Jet re Bocko its Yowk la St Chance to get in on the no too gym Park Prav Polly s right it s your last Chance to get in on the m 0,000 grand _ prize draw simply fill in the entry form Ana drop it off at any of the 7 Perkins locations for your Chance to win 10,000 entry deadline is wednesday May 17, 2000 at 5 00 . Entries will be accepted until 2 00 . Thursday May 18, 2000 at the Perkins located at 1277 Henderson Hwy Only the grand prize draw will be held at Perkins restaurant 1277 Henderson Hwy on thursday May 18, 2000 Between 5 30 6 00 . Join us for the draw or listen to magic 99.9 pm they la be broadcasting the draw live. The free press a Carefree its Worth knowing a a a a getaways to subscribe Call 697-7001 or 1-800-542-8900 ,.mfr cute h watch the 4kingliiliiractfsp making miracles for Fobish Llort a children 5pecial on sunday May in 7.00 . To 8.00 . The special will feature a wonderful look at children s Hospital and an important documentary on spinal muscular atrophy and Cleft palate in Manitoba s children. Can s daily Enid form name _ address. City _ postal code. Phone _ no Purchase necessary. Only original entry forms or hand drawn facsimiles will be accepted contest closing Date May 17,2000. Rapport of children pr0j� Miro go i calling Check out our web site All proceeds from the making miracles for children program support paediatric medical research As Well As equipment and programs at children s Hospital. Listen for the children Miracle radio Hon on a Job live from the Teddy bears picnic 5unday, May 28,6.00 6.00 pm. Proud member Vav Hosp Mals helping kids ;