Premier Selinger must act quickly to pressure the Federal Government to lobby for the Wheat Board’s survival: Gerrard

Winnipeg – Today Jon Gerrard, Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, demanded that the Premier and his government take immediate action and pressure the Federal Government to aggressively protect the status of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) within the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

 The viability of the CWB is currently under attack by numerous member countries of the WTO and if a recent decision by the WTO to remove the CWBs protective brackets is not reversed, the Winnipeg-based operation may cease to exist by as early as 2013.  The CWB directly employs more than 500 people and supporting thousands of spin-off jobs within the province’s globally recognized grain industry.

 “I was extremely disappointed with the Premier’s response today in question period on this issue.  The Canadian Wheat Board is a major employer in Winnipeg and with the recent loss of 500 Convergys jobs along with the Tembec closure, the government should be kick into high gear to protect jobs in this province,” said Gerrard. 

 “Instead of providing examples of actions that his government has taken to try and save these 500 jobs, the Premier dished a standard response about his people being in regular communication with the Federal Government.  An occasional phone call between a NDP aide and their Federal counterpart is not going to change the World Trade Organization’s mind on this.  This is going to require an aggressive all-party delegation to go to Ottawa and lobby the Federal Government into aggressively pursuing this issue,” added Gerrard.

Bob Roehle, Coordinator for Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, a pro-CWB advocacy group, agrees that the provincial government must increase its pressure on the Federal Government that not only are 500 Winnipeg jobs on the line but also at stake is Winnipeg’s place in the global grain industry. 

 “The loss of the CWB in Winnipeg will have a far greater impact than losing its 500 direct jobs.  Without the CWBs presence in Winnipeg, private grain companies and their agents are likely to move their operations into a community that has a stronger link to the global grain trade.  The same goes for the Canadian Grain Commission.”

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For more information, please contact: Michelle Nyhof,  Communications Officer for Manitoba Liberal Caucus

(204) 771-2513 or michelle.nyhof@leg.gov.mb