If it were proposed today to tax food—even at five per cent, never mind such punitive rates as these—it would be instant political suicide: consider the ruckus that erupts whenever some stray academic suggests the GST should apply to groceries. But because it is the status quo, and because the tax is implicit rather than explicit, and because “it’s to help farmers,” the policy is not only tolerated, it is impossible to remove. Or at least, it has been until now.
Agriculture
Wheat Board Monopoly Lost: Yet Grain Industry Will Prosper
A sober look ahead to the eventual removal of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly shows a significantly prosperous industry and the likely emergence of a volunteer board.
Post-Monopoly CWB has Tough Job
With the clock ticking on the introduction of legislation that will end the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on marketing wheat and barley, it’s becoming increasingly clear that whatever form a successor organization takes, it will have a tough go of it.
Removal of the Canadian Wheat Board Monopoly: Future Changes for Farmers and the Grain Industry
This study looks ahead and assesses possible consequence scenarios to the eventuality that the Canadian Wheat Board is removed in 2012 as many expect.
Featured News
A Year of LNG Royalties/Taxes from a Single Pipeline Could Pay for …
Sitting on top of one of the world’s largest and richest natural resource warehouses is turning into quite a disconcerting distraction. While much of Canada’s population – the heavily urban part for whom “rural” means Whistler, Muskoka, or Mont Tremblant – likes to...
Medical Martial Law – Never Again
The economic upheaval now roiling over the world’s financial markets, rapidly lowering living standards, and even threatening to freeze Europeans this winter, is all directly related to the radical decision most western leaders took in March of 2020., when a new...
Strahl Axes CWB Boss
Adrian Measner fired, Greg Arason named interim replacement .
Does the CWB make farmers extra money?
Ag Policy Fellow Rolf Penner responds to letter demanding proof the Wheat Board does not generate extra returns for farmers
Farmers Rally in Support of Canadian Wheat Board
Hundreds of Prairie farmers gathered in Winnipeg on Thursday to protest against Ottawa's plan to end the Canadian Wheat Board's grain marketing monopoly. Holding placards that read "Hands Off Our Wheat Board" and "Multinationals No - Single Desk CWB Yes," farmers such...
Pulling Off a Band-Aid
Lost in the rhetorical battle between free-marketing and the Canadian Wheat Board's single-desk marketing is the unusual fact that wheat prices are creeping up to near-record levels. Thanks to the misfortunes of farmers in the Ukraine, the U.S. and drought-devastated...
Evaluating Switchgrass Cultivars – Powerpoint Slides
Dr. Paul Jefferson reviews switchgrass energy research, November 14th, 2006 in Regina
Bioheat – Green Energy for Prairies – Powerpoint Slides
Roger Samson’s powerpoint slides on Bioheat from Switchgrass, November 15, 2006
Dr. Al Loyns, Agricultural Economist
A pioneer in the fight for marketing freedom for farmers, Al Loyns lays out the case for removing the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly and explains why the agency is likely to survive the transition.
Rolf Penner Testifies in Ottawa for Marketing Freedom
The Frontier’s Ag Policy Fellow makes the case for a free Wheat Board, and engages in a heated debate with monopoly advocates.
Ban on New Hog Barns Is Poor Policy
A moratorium on the licensing of new hog barns is only the worst in a string of poor decisions.