BY ALEXIS KIENLEN • PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEIF NORMAN
Outgoing executive director proud to have fought for farmers
Checkmate
GrainsWest:
How would you describe
the WCWGA to someone who isn’t
familiar with it?
Blair Rutter:
It’s a farm policy advoca-
cy organization in support of open and
competitive markets, free trade and in-
novation. The organization has about 450
members across Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba and the Peace Region in British
Columbia. The organization was founded
in 1970, and we’ve always been strongly
supportive of farmer self-reliance and
farmers having the freedom to manage
their own business. We have a free-enter-
prise orientation.
The organization was founded by about
a dozen farmers in southern Saskatch-
ewan. In the early days, we fought for
protein grading and having a separate pool
account for durum wheat. We started as
the Palliser Wheat Growers Association,
and in the mid-’80s we changed the name
to Western Canadian Wheat Growers
Association.
GW:
What do you love about working in
agriculture and what did you love about
working for the WCWGA?
BR:
I have always had an interest in agri-
culture and I wanted to make a difference
and make a positive contribution. I enjoy
working for entrepreneurs and advocating
on their behalf. I do have a free-market phi-
losophy, so the Wheat Growers was a good
fit for me because we had shared values and
shared beliefs. You do have to bring passion
to this job, you have to have a willingness
to go to bat for farmers when you see
policies that are not in their best interest.
You have to promote their interests and
make sure that they have a business climate
that encourages investment and innova-
tion. There are always groups that want to
restrict the kind of freedom farmers are
allowed to have.
I’ve been very proud of the Wheat
Growers and what we’ve been able to
accomplish on a very limited budget.
What I’m most satisfied about is that we’ve
been able to restore the Wheat Growers to
being an effective policy voice on behalf of
forward-thinking farmers.
GW:
What does the group do and who
are the members?
BR:
We mainly advocate policy in the
areas of grain transportation, trade and
grain marketing regulations. We also look
at provincial issues. Certainly, Bill 6 in
Alberta is a hot issue, but we’ve looked at
land ownership and drainage issues in the
past year in Saskatchewan. Primarily, we
look at federal agricultural issues, but we
also weigh in on provincial issues.
Throughout our organization’s history,
we’ve been strong advocates of getting
greater market access for grain and
livestock industries. We’re not directly
involved in trade negotiations, but the
government always seeks out industry po-
sitions and so we’re there to make sure the
grain sector’s interests are put forward.
We advocate for policy positions on
behalf of our members. It’s our board
and members that set the direction. We
are completely volunteer-based. Every
member has to reach into their pockets
and plunk down $300 on the table, so that
keeps you well grounded and accountable.
We rarely lose members; generally we only
lose them when they exit or retire from
farming. The membership is individual
farmers and we have about a dozen inde-
pendent agri-retailers as well.
Spring
2016
grainswest.com
17
MEETING BLAIR RUTTER IS A CALMING EXPERIENCE. HE’S POLITE, RESPECTFUL AND A GOOD LISTENER. DON’T LET his
good-natured exterior fool you, though. As quick as he produces a smile, it can turn into a snarl if he smells a bad deal for farmers. Rut-
ter’s body of work as the executive director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association (WCWGA) for the last 11 years drives
this point home. In a similar fashion, Rutter is all business when it comes to his beloved hobby of chess. He has been involved with the
Manitoba Chess Association for the past 13 years and is its current president.
Rutter grew up on a grain farm about 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg in Miami, MB. Rutter left the farm to obtain a commerce
degree from the University of Manitoba, worked at CIBC for nine years and then went back to the University of Manitoba to get a mas-
ter’s degree in agricultural economics. Following that, he went to the WCWGA for three years as the Manitoba policy manager before
moving on to work for nine years as the policy manager at United Grain Growers and Agricore United. He came back to the Wheat
Growers as their executive director in 2005.
