The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has passed another resolution calling for a voluntary Canadian Wheat Board.

At the Ottawa-based organization's annual meeting in Gatineau, Quebec, the chamber passed a resolution calling for amendments to the CWB Act to give farmers the "voluntary option to participate" in the CWB. This follows a similar resolution passed by the chamber in 2007, which also called for deregulation of the single desk.

New in the 2010 resolution was the chamber's instructions for Gerry Ritz, the Minister responsible for the CWB, to immediately tell the Board to issue no-cost export permits for value-added products of wheat and barley.

"We're certainly encouraged by the resolution," says Kevin Bender, president of the pro-deregulation Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. "It shows that an organization that's beyond farming and encompasses a lot of different industries feels the same way we do - that this would be a positive move for economic prosperity of the country."

The resolution was introduced by the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce.

~ Wednesday, October 6, 2010 ~