Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act

An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2013.

Sponsor

Gerry Ritz  Conservative

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

Part 1 of this enactment amends the Canadian Wheat Board Act to change the governance structure of the Canadian Wheat Board and to make other changes in preparation for the implementation of Parts 2 and 3. Part 2 replaces the Canadian Wheat Board Act with a new Act that continues the Canadian Wheat Board and charges it with the marketing of grain through voluntary pooling. Part 3 provides for the possible continuation of the Board under other federal legislation, while Part 4 provides for its winding up if no such continuation occurs. Finally, Part 5 provides for the repeal of the new Act enacted by Part 2.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

Nov. 28, 2011 Passed That the Bill be now read a third time and do pass.
Nov. 28, 2011 Failed That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word "That" and substituting the following: “this House decline to give third reading to Bill C-18, An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts, because members of the Committee were unable to hear testimony from the primary producers affected by and concerned with the future commercialization of the Canadian Wheat Board”.
Nov. 23, 2011 Passed That Bill C-18, An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts, as amended, be concurred in at report stage.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 55.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 46.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 45.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18, in Clause 14, be amended by replacing lines 38 to 42 on page 7 with the following: “(2) All the directors are elected by the producers in accordance with the regulations. The directors must designate, also in accordance with those regulations, a president from among themselves.”
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18, in Clause 14, be amended by replacing line 36 on page 7 with the following: “9. (1) The board consists of fifteen directors,”
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 12.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 9.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 7.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 6.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 3.
Nov. 23, 2011 Failed That Bill C-18 be amended by deleting Clause 2.
Nov. 23, 2011 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-18, An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at report stage of the Bill and one sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at report stage and on the day allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the stage of the Bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.
Oct. 24, 2011 Passed That the Bill be now read a second time and referred to a legislative committee.
Oct. 24, 2011 Failed That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “this House decline to give second reading to Bill C-18, An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts, because it: ( a) fails to respect the will of the majority of prairie farmers who have expressed a desire to maintain the current composition and structure of the Canadian Wheat Board; (b) ignores the fact that the Canadian Wheat Board is funded, controlled, and directed by Canadian farmers and removes their autonomy to maximize prices and minimize risks in the western wheat and barley market; and (c) makes sweeping decisions on behalf of prairie farmers by eliminating the single-desk system that has provided prairie farmers strength and stability for nearly 70 years”.
Oct. 24, 2011 Failed That the amendment be amended by adding after the words “70 years” the following: “, including specifically the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board’s role in managing transportation logistics and thereby leaving farmers without an effective voice with respect to rail service levels and freight rates; and ( d) breaches section 47.1 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act”.
Oct. 20, 2011 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-18, An Act to reorganize the Canadian Wheat Board and to make consequential and related amendments to certain Acts, not more than two further sitting days shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the second day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Conservative

Gerry Ritz Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK

Madam Speaker, the Canadian Wheat Board does not give farmers money. It markets the farmers' commodities.

The system works as follows. If I grow and harvest durum wheat and decide to sell it to a pasta maker on my own, I must phone the Wheat Board and inform it of that. It will tell me how much it will cost in freight and elevation to get it to Tidewater. I will send a cheque. I will phone the Wheat Board back to ask if I can sell the wheat. At that point it will inform me that it will cost me so much a bushel because that is the price it can get for it that day. Essentially, I must buy back the durum wheat which has not yet left my farm before I can finally do something with it. That has to change.

We cannot shackle people like that and expect them to stay in that kind of situation. The board was created in a different time for a different reason. We have moved beyond that.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB

Madam Speaker, my question is—

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Conservative

Chris Warkentin Conservative Peace River, AB

Madam Speaker, on a point of order. I am not sure if you are aware, but there are countless members of the Conservative caucus who want to ask questions. Several members on the other side have asked multiple questions. I believe it would be important to hear what the strong representatives of the Canadian wheat farmers have to say on this side of the House.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

I appreciate the members' frustration, but they should recall that the Speaker stated before leaving the chair that as per the regulations and procedures, the purpose of this 30-minute question period is to allow the opposition to hold the government to account.

Members should recognize that I did allow three questions from the government side, which is similar in proportion to the time we allot during question period. I believe that is a fair allocation.

I will give the member 15 seconds to ask her question.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Madam Speaker, just for our clarification, we have seen this happen, but we just do not seem to have your formula of how you figure out who is able to speak and who is not. Could you give us the actual numbers so we will time our standing up appropriately?

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

There is no formula. It is at the Speaker's discretion following the rules of procedure.

I will give the hon. member for Churchill 15 seconds to ask the last question.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB

Madam Speaker, I wish the members across would have the same interest in allowing farmers to speak out, not just their own caucus members but to allow farmers across western Canada to have a vote on whether they want this Wheat Board to be dismantled. The Conservatives are not allowing that vote because we know from the plebiscite and from the farmers' voices that they support the single desk.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Conservative

Gerry Ritz Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK

Madam Speaker, I pointed out earlier that a lot of the people sitting on this side of the House right now are actually farmers. They represent farmers. We were sent here with a mandate to change the single desk into a dual market situation and we will continue to do that whether we have help from the opposition or not.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

It is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith the question necessary to dispose of the motion now before the House.

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Some hon. members

Yea.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

All those opposed will please say nay.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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Some hon. members

Nay.

Bill C-18--Time Allocation MotionMarketing Freedom for Grain Farmers ActGovernment Orders

October 20th, 2011 / 10:35 a.m.
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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Denise Savoie

In my opinion the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.