Farmers Argue in Court Against Wheat Board

May 3, 2000

Canadian farmers opposed to the Canadian Wheat Board argued in court this week that they should be able to market crops on their own, and that the CWB violates their rights, REUTERS reports.

Lawyers for the Alberta Barley Commission told a three-judge panel in Calgary that western farmers are being "robbed of their dignity, self-worth and personal autonomy" by requirements that they market through the CWB. This week’s arguments came in an appeal of an earlier court ruling in the CWB’s favor.

The U.S. government and American wheat growers have been longtime critics of the CWB, which they charge with unfair trade practices. Growers’ ire reached new levels in more recent years as imports of durum and spring wheat from Canada increased. Reforming the CWB and other state-trading enterprises is one of the U.S. negotiating goals in ongoing World Trade Organization talks. Those talks are highly unlikely to make significant progress before next year, however.

Less familiar to Americans is the opposition to the CWB’s monopoly within Canada itself. However, the board has long been less popular in the Western provinces.