CANADA’S DOLLAR TIES AND BRITAIN'S WHEAT NEEDS

Grey River Argus, 15 November 1949, Page 5

CANADA’S DOLLAR TIES AND BRITAIN'S WHEAT NEEDS

LONDON, Nov. 13 Britain would be bound to reduce drastically her imports of wheat from Canada under the new contract,, unless Canada could be .Persuaded to become, at least partially, a sterling country, said Mr Richard Crossman, Labour member ol: Parliament, in an interview to-day. He said that Britain would have had to default on her Canadian wheat contract this year, if the United States —which has a wheat surplus—had not allowed the use of Marshall Aid dollars for Canadian wheat. "This means ,in plain language, that America is paying the Canadians to give us wheat,” he said. "It is not reasonable to ask Americans, to discriminate against their own farmers. If Britain is to demand that Canada take sterling for any part of our payment, we must give exports to Canada infinitely higher priority now.” The Sunday newspaper, the Observer, to-day said there was a good deal of nonsense in the argument for forcing Canada, into the sterling area and "a good deal of nastiness in the attempt to push our own problems on to Canadians, who since the war have been exceptionally generous to this country, despite Mr Strachey's increasing efforts to buy from everyone except them.” The Observer added that the most probable result of the campaign would be to drive Canada into closer economic association with the United States.