Dear Editor:
What happened to the Sask. Wheat Pool? During 1972 to 1992 Sask. Wheat Pool was the largest grain company in Canada enjoying 60 to 70 per cent of the Saskatchewan grain market; plus owning several large elevators in Alberta and Manitoba. At that time the Pool operated 1,224 small wooden elevators in Saskatchewan alone and came up with a net income for the crop year of 1980 - 1981 totaling $72.7 million.
In 1996 members equity was converted into public trading shares at $12.00 per share. These $12.00 shares rose to $24.00, then started to decline and finally bottomed out at .18 cents a share. Share conversion made it possible for the Pool to borrow a huge amount of money. Pool management seemed to think they had access to a bottomless pit of money. They invested money in England, Poland and Mexico. Lost over $50 million on a sea port grain terminal in Poland, lost millions more on a grain handling facility in Mexico and foolishly built seven huge hog barns in Saskatchewan at a total cost of $84 million which they later were forced to sell for $22 million.
They also bought up many none-farm enterprises, paying top dollar and then some and they purchased 200 outlets of Robin's Donuts. Soon enough the time came when they couldn't make their payments and pay interest on their huge loans. They were forced to sell off their money-making assets at a terrible loss.
Sask. Wheat Pool initially borrowed $270 million to build their huge concrete grain terminals, then used borrowed capital to demolish most of their wooden elevators. In a few short years Sask. Wheat Pool debt ballooned from $161 million to a high of $987 million. Some of the delegates voice their concern over this reckless and unwise spending by senior management. Some members of the board of directors simply informed us that they pay management well to run the Pool, so let them do it.
We could come to the conclusion that senior management and the board of directors were incompetent, perhaps some board members were. I personally cannot accept that management were that dense. That leaves only one alternative. The thought has occurred to me that perhaps Sask. Wheat Pool was deliberately driven into bankruptcy to remove it from the ownership and control of farmers.
George E. Hickie
Waldron, Sask.
