The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) says the Canadian Wheat Board has now wasted over four months of valuable time trying to overturn the Conservatives long standing campaign promise to give prairie farmers the freedom to market their own wheat and barley. Following the May 2nd election, the Government promised to quickly implement its campaign promise to provide marketing freedom to western farmers. Parliament resumes in mid-September and legislation is expected shortly after. Grain Growers of Canada President, Steven Vandervalk says “It's unfortunate that a narrow majority on the Board of the CWB continues to refuse to let their management team get to work on a new business model, while according to their own survey released Monday, over 20,000 farmers are looking for marketing freedom.

Looking at the vote results Vandervalk points out “of the ballots mailed out, only 34% actually voted for the CWB monopoly on wheat. Barley results were even lower for the status quo - only 29% support the monopoly. He says there was a very low participation rate with this survey showing the CWB really needs to move on and get moving ahead with their transition plan.