The vice-president of a Winnipeg-based shipping company says changes to the Canadian Wheat Board will have a positive impact on the industry.
The federal government is planning to send wheat and barley to the open market, which has been monopolized by the wheat board since 1935, by 2012. Currently 60 per cent of all goods shipped through Thunder Bay are from the wheat board.
John Heimbecker, vice-president of Parrish and Heimbecker, said the changes will help companies leverage their assets more easily.
“We’re seeing a substantial switch in how our government is handling grain because of the Canadian Wheat Board and their monopoly is being removed,” Heimbecker said on Wednesday.
“Speaking for Parrish and Heimbecker, we think it’s going to help our business.
“We`ll be able to leverage our assets like the one here in Thunder Bay to improve the way we’re doing business. Having said that, I would suggest that the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway System and Thunder Bay could improve overall just because the individual companies will now be able to leverage their own assets the way they want instead of the way the Wheat Board wanted.”
He added that some grain facilities aren’t using their full capacity and that could be an area that Thunder Bay could work on.
