Bill Nicholson (Canadian administrator)

Bill Nicholson is a Canadian farmer and administrator, and is one of ten elected directors on the Canadian Wheat Board. Nicholson supports the CWB's single-desk marketing approach as the best option for farmers, and has opposed efforts to introduce open market competition to wheat and barley sales.

Nicholson operates a farming business in Shoal Lake, Manitoba. He was first elected to the Canadian Wheat Board's Advisory Committee in 1994, defeating incumbent candidate Larry Maguire in the western Manitoba region. [Bill Redekop, "Farmers' votes a solid rejection of voluntary monopoly'", "Winnipeg Free Press", 3 December 1994.] This election was fought along clear ideological lines, with Maguire opposing the CWB's monopoly status and Nicholson supporting it. Nicholson, who was 38 years old at the time, was a delegate with the Manitoba Pool Elevators and a member of the National Farmers Union. [Bill Redekop, "Wheat board future sparks bitter battle", "Winnipeg Free Press", 14 November 1994.]

Nicholson criticized the group Farmers For Justice in 1995, after some of its members tried to market their own wheat in the United States in contravention of Canadian law. He argued that these farmers were conducting private transactions "at the expense of all other farmers", and said that costs would be higher and returns lower if the Wheat Board were forced out of existence. ["Farmers chafe over wheat board", "Globe and Mail", 28 November 1995, B6.]

The Wheat Board was restructured in 1998, and Nicholson was elected as a director for the western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan region. He defended the Wheat Board's monopoly status in a 2000 interview with the "Winnipeg Free Press", arguing that single-desk marketing allowed farmers to look after their interests and avoid exploitation from grain merchants and railways. [Helen Fallding, "Working together gives muscle to fight grain companies, railways", "Winnipeg Free Press", 15 May 2000, A1.] He was re-elected in 2002, defeating former Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba cabinet minister Jim Downey after two rounds of voting. Downey had opposed the single-desk approach. [David Kuxhaus, "Farmers back wheat board monopoly", "Winnipeg Free Press", 16 December 2002, A3. Don Dewar, a pro-monopoly candidate, was eliminated after the first round.]

Nicholson has recently criticized Conservative Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl's efforts to reduce the Wheat Board's monopoly status. [Bill Nicholson, "Farmers have stake in CWB", "Winnipeg Free Press", 20 October 2006, A14.] He was re-elected to a third term as director in 2006.

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