The issues surrounding the reform and upgrading of western Canada's grain handling and transportation system have been the subject of intense study and debate across the prairies for at least 25 years. Within days of the 1993 election, the newly elected federal government was required to begin dealing with these issues in the context of the Uruguay round of world trade negotiations because those negotiations were beginning the process of eliminating "trade distorting export subsidies", and grain subsidies under Canada's Western Grain Transportation Act, WGTA, were included, in part, within that definition. Consultations were appropriately undertaken at that time by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food through the grain representatives serving on the sectoral advisory group on international trade, SAGIT. These included the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, the United Grain Growers and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, among others.
The consultative process has been intense and ongoing ever since. This has included a great deal of correspondence and, more important, dozens of face to face personal meetings and teleconferences involving virtually every major western farm organization, several national organizations with an interest in the western grain handling and transportation system, untold numbers of individual producers, grain companies and co-operatives, the railways, municipal organizations, and provincial governments.
It would be impossible to reconstruct an absolutely all-inclusive listing of all those consulted prior to the February 27, 1995 federal budget, but the more prominent groups included in these consultations were: Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Unifarm, Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, Union of Manitoba Municipalities, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, Western Barley Growers Association, Canadian Canola Growers Association, Canadian Dehydrators Association, Western Canadian Flax Growers, Western Canada Pulse Growers, Manitoba Pool Elevators, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Alberta Pool, United Grain Growers, Canada Grains Council.
In addition, at the request of the minister's address to over 90 industry stakeholders in November of 1994, more than 30 other groups provided written input on WGTA and grain transportation reform prior to February 27, 1995. These included, most prominently: Prairie Farm Leaders Group, Alberta Canola Producers Commission, Alberta Cattle Commission, Prairie Pools Inc., Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association, Manitoba Pulse Growers, National Farmers Union, Canadian Special Crops Association.
Prebudget consultations were, of necessity, general and broad ranging, but they clearly signalled the government's direction toward a western grain transition payments programs, WGTPP. The nature of the WGTPP, as announced in the 1995 budget, required ongoing postbudget discussions with farm groups about specific aspects of the program's design and delivery and related adjustment measures. The minister therefore continued to seek broad producer and industry input through further correspondence, teleconferences and personal meetings held through the spring, summer, fall and winter of 1995.
Through all these consultations in whatever form, opinions have been expressed both for and against the reform which have been undertaken. While there is general agreement that the reforms were necessary and unavoidable for trade, efficiency, diversification, innovation and fiscal reasons, it must also be noted that few organizations unequivocally approved of each and every aspect of the WGTPP. Advice and reactions were typically mixed. It is therefore very difficult to characterize any given organization as totally supportive or opposed. In most cases they were a bit of both. Not unexpectedly, everyone would have preferred to have more money available for distribution through this program. On the other hand, those consulted also acknowledged the compelling imperative of fiscal responsibility.
One point is clear. Few other initiatives in the history of Canadian agriculture have been subject to such open, lengthy and comprehensive consultations before, during and after implementation. The process continues.