Conservatives Move to Deliver on Promise to Scrap Long Gun Registry and Provide Marketing Freedom to Western Canadian Farmers
Ottawa, Ontario, October 26, 2011 – The Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act and the Ending of the Long Gun Registry Act were both tabled in the House of Commons to meet longstanding Conservative commitments.
“I was pleased to see our Conservative Government take steps to introduce legislation to provide marketing freedom to Western Canadian farmers and to scrap the Long Gun Registry, legislation which should pass into law before we break for Christmas,” said Komarnicki. “I think many Canadians expected us to table these initiatives and so they will be pleased to see our Government moving these items a matter of priority.”
With respect to the legislation introduced to scrap the wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry, it is clear that our Government stands with law-abiding farmers, duck hunters, and rural Canadians in every region of the country. We have long opposed the wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry. It needlessly and unfairly targets law-abiding Canadians while doing nothing to reduce crime or strengthen our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Since it was created, the long-gun registry has wasted taxpayers dollars. This money should be used to crack down on real criminals, not law-abiding farmers and hunters.
“What many will like about the legislation,” said Komarnicki, “is that it will provide for the destruction of all records pertaining to the registration of long-guns in the Canadian Firearms Registry.”
“With respect to the legislation relating to the Canadian Wheat Board,” said Komarnicki, “Western farmers will appreciate the same freedom and liberty to sell their crops as farmers in Eastern Canada and, in fact, around the world have already enjoyed.
“A good number of farmers will be enabled to pool together to market their grain through the Canadian Wheat Board if they want to, but under this Bill farmers won’t be compelled to do so if they don’t want to. It is, in my view, a fundamental right to be able to sell what you grow and harvest when and to who you want, and this Bill provides that right to Prairie farmers.”
An open grain market will attract investment, encourage innovation, create value-added jobs, and build a stronger economy for all Canadians.
The Canadian Wheat Board monopoly was imposed on Western Canadian farmers by Parliament in 1943 when Canada was committed to supplying inexpensive wheat to Britain during World War II. The legislation will remove the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board and give marketing choice to all farmers, returning to farmers the right to market their wheat and barley in the best interest of their individual farms and businesses.
Farmers will have the choice of whether to sell on an open market or through a voluntary CWB. The legislation will allow an interim Canadian Wheat Board to act as a voluntary marketing entity, supported by the federal Government while it transitions to full private ownership. The legislation will also immediately allow farmers and companies to forward contract for the delivery of grain after August 1, 2012.
As part of the ongoing commitment to farmers and the importance of the Port of Churchill as a shipping option, the Government will provide an economic incentive of up to $5 million per year for five years to support shipments of grain, including oilseeds, pulses and special crops, through the Port of Churchill. We will also provide support through funding of up to $4.1 million over three years to maintain the Port during the transition period. In addition, the port infrastructure project presently funded through an agreement with the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation will be extended to 2015. Finally, in consultation with all stakeholders, our Government will explore options for the future of Churchill and the Port of Churchill.
Working with Western Canadian grain farmers, their organizations and provincial partners, the Government is committed to an orderly transition to market freedom which includes a viable, voluntary pooling entity, as part of an open and competitive Canadian grain market.
Additional information can be found at www.agr.gc.ca/freedom.
