Prairie grain farmers should make their 2012 marketing plan assuming the Canadian Wheat Board marketing monopoly still will be in place, says a key opposition opponent of government dismantlement plans.
Winnipeg New Democrat MP Pat Martin, opposition CWB critic, said that the government's promise to end the wheat and barley monopoly effective Aug. 1, 2012 is virtually certain not to come to pass.
Legislation must make it through Parliament and the opposition can use multiple procedural tactics to delay it, even with a majority government.
"A lot of people who follow parliamentary procedure say that if he (agriculture minister Gerry Ritz) cannot get it through Parliament by Dec. 15 (when Parliament adjourns until late January), it is unlikely to implement the changes needed for a free market by Aug. 1, 2012," the MP said in an interview. "It's not that difficult for the largest opposition in Canadian history to use procedural tactics to stall and delay that legislation."
Martin said that since farmers begin to plan during the winter how to sell their 2012 crop, they should assume the wheat board single desk will be an option next year.
"I think farmers should operate under the assumption that the status quo will prevail for 2012 because the minister cannot guarantee delivery of his promise," he said. "With the passion and the strong belief we are on the side of the angels with the CWB, there will be a full court press pulling out all the stops and using every tool at our disposal to stop, delay and sabotage the intention of the minister. I don't think he knows the fight he is going to get."
Complicating the government's legislative challenge is the fact that the first major piece of legislation is a controversial omnibus crime bill introduced this week that government leaders say will be a priority this autumn even as opposition MPs insist they will delay it.
Martin said Ritz is "deluded" if he thinks grain legislation will get through Parliament by the time it rises for summer in mid-June.
In the House of Commons Sept. 23, Liberal agriculture critic Frank Valeriote insisted that the CWB plebiscite showed prairie producers support the board's single desk even if they voted Conservative in the spring election. Of the 56 percent of permit book holders who voted, 62 percent of wheat producers supported the monopoly.
Ritz insisted the "vast majority" of farmers "understand the needs and requirements to market on their own behalf."
He noted that they sell their own canola, pulse crops and livestock. "We know they can do that with wheat as well, they just need a chance to do that."
Ritz said the opposition can oppose. "They can say no but at the end of the day, this is going to happen."
Winnipeg New Democrat MP Pat Martin, opposition CWB critic, said that the government's promise to end the wheat and barley monopoly effective Aug. 1, 2012 is virtually certain not to come to pass.
Legislation must make it through Parliament and the opposition can use multiple procedural tactics to delay it, even with a majority government.
"A lot of people who follow parliamentary procedure say that if he (agriculture minister Gerry Ritz) cannot get it through Parliament by Dec. 15 (when Parliament adjourns until late January), it is unlikely to implement the changes needed for a free market by Aug. 1, 2012," the MP said in an interview. "It's not that difficult for the largest opposition in Canadian history to use procedural tactics to stall and delay that legislation."
Martin said that since farmers begin to plan during the winter how to sell their 2012 crop, they should assume the wheat board single desk will be an option next year.
"I think farmers should operate under the assumption that the status quo will prevail for 2012 because the minister cannot guarantee delivery of his promise," he said. "With the passion and the strong belief we are on the side of the angels with the CWB, there will be a full court press pulling out all the stops and using every tool at our disposal to stop, delay and sabotage the intention of the minister. I don't think he knows the fight he is going to get."
Complicating the government's legislative challenge is the fact that the first major piece of legislation is a controversial omnibus crime bill introduced this week that government leaders say will be a priority this autumn even as opposition MPs insist they will delay it.
Martin said Ritz is "deluded" if he thinks grain legislation will get through Parliament by the time it rises for summer in mid-June.
In the House of Commons Sept. 23, Liberal agriculture critic Frank Valeriote insisted that the CWB plebiscite showed prairie producers support the board's single desk even if they voted Conservative in the spring election. Of the 56 percent of permit book holders who voted, 62 percent of wheat producers supported the monopoly.
Ritz insisted the "vast majority" of farmers "understand the needs and requirements to market on their own behalf."
He noted that they sell their own canola, pulse crops and livestock. "We know they can do that with wheat as well, they just need a chance to do that."
Ritz said the opposition can oppose. "They can say no but at the end of the day, this is going to happen."