After decades, farmers in western Canada are finally free to decide for themselves how and to whom to sell their crop, the result of a long political campaign led by free-market prime minister Stephen Harper with key help from Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall. I’ve got a new, celebratory post at Cato giving details. Next: getting our own Supreme Court to reconsider Wickard v. Filburn, the decision that laid out a charter for federal supervision of wheat growing and so much else besides? [Name screwup fixed now]
P.S. Milk still a big problem (although the U.S. is hardly free of cartel-like regulations in that sphere).
2 Comments
Stephen Harper is Prime Minister, not Premier. In Canada premiers are the leaders of provincial governments. The federal leader is the Prime Minister.
The milk situation is a bit different than the wheat one. The controls on wheat sales were imposed by the federal government but only on farmers in western Canada. The milk management regimes are run by the individual provincial governments, so the federal government can’t do much about them. But since the wheat board is under federal jurisdiction, Harper was able to take this action.
Thanks, fixed.