News Articles

April 9, 2008
Winnipeg Free Press

Consensus goal a tall order

New wheat board boss 'a pragmatist'

Ian White has set a tall order for himself in his new job as president and CEO of the Canadian Wheat Board.

White, who began a three-year stint at the helm of the CWB on March 31, wants to see a consensus on the wheat board's role in the marketing of western Canadian grain -- something that has eluded Prairie farmers for decades.

"Just to have a sustainable vision that is supportable and is supported by all parties -- and that we know where we're going as an organization and we're going forward with that vision... (That) would be one of my initial goals," he said in an interview at the wheat board's offices in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

That may be more difficult to achieve than it sounds for the former Australian sugar marketer, 58, who was appointed by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in late January after his name was put forward by a committee of wheat board directors and federal staff.

The Canadian Wheat Board's future has been uncertain since the Harper government came to power two years ago with a promise to end the board's monopoly over wheat and barley sales. White's predecessor, Adrian Measner, was fired for his outspoken defence of the CWB's monopoly in late 2006, as the debate raged on in Western Canada about whether the agency should retain its so-called single desk. Former wheat board CEO Greg Arason was asked to return in a caretaker role until Measner's replacement was found.

White, a career agri-business executive who last served as CEO of Queensland Sugar Ltd., in Brisbane, Australia, made it clear Tuesday that he is not here to deregulate the Canadian grain industry. He said he is answerable to the wheat board's farmer-dominated board of directors, not Ottawa.

"I've got no mandate other than to work for the board of the wheat board," White said, sitting at a table in a temporary office with no outside view as renovations are made to the CWB's executive offices, part of a three-year, $12-million building renovation sparked by an asbestos problem and antiquated lighting and ductwork. A section of the wheat board building, owned by farmers, dates back to the 1930s.

At Queensland Sugar, White presided over a marketing organization, owned by farmers and processors, that lost its legislated monopoly. That's made some pro-single desk advocates in Canada suspicious that White's been given the task of overseeing the same thing here, but White said that's not the case and the two situations are different.

"I support the concept of a single desk where it adds value to farmers' businesses," he said.

White also noted that after deregulation in Australia, the lion's share of the sugar continued to be marketed through Queensland Sugar as most players believed it was advantageous to market jointly.

"It was a pretty challenging discussion, but at the end of the day there was a position found and a middle ground found," he said of the debate over sugar marketing.

He acknowledges that his role in finding that middle ground probably stood him in good stead in landing the wheat board job.

"I suppose it did. Probably my general agri-business experience, my knowledge of commodity marketing (too). I've operated in both single desk and non-single desk environments and... I've been doing this for quite a while."

White addressed wheat board employees, who have laboured in a time of great uncertainty and flux since Measner's firing, on his second day on the job, with new CWB chairman Larry Hill, a Saskatchewan grain farmer, at his side.
One employee said there was general relief and a sense of optimism after his speech and that White has impressed staff as being "obviously well-qualified and capable."

White said he wasn't there to end the board's monopoly, but neither did he vow to keep the single desk at all costs, the staff member said.

"He's clearly a pragmatist and what he wants to do is position farmers and the wheat board in the best way through whatever the challenges are," the employee said.

© Winnipeg Free Press

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