Raphael, DennisZambo, Zsofia Magdolna2024-11-072024-11-072024-06-132024-11-07https://hdl.handle.net/10315/42431The Harper Government's dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) marketing monopoly in 2012 can be understood as part of a broader political project to liberalize Canada’s agriculture sector. While this policy shift has transformed Canada’s position within the global economic system, the impact it has had on small and mid-sized farmers in the grain sector is largely unknown, particularly with regards to mental health and well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the social, political and economic impacts that removing the CWB has had on the lives of grain and oilseed farmers in Western Canada. This research’s methodology relies on both the ontological and epistemological assumptions of critical realism and employs a critical materialist political economy framework. A total of 29 semi-structured, open-ended interviews were included for this research study, including 17 Saskatchewan grain farmers and 12 individuals classified as relevant informants. This research found that the dissolution of the CWB had a tremendous impact on both farmers and their communities. The loss of the CWB likely exacerbated inequalities between farms, hastening the consolidation of farmland and contributing to rural depopulation. The issue of the CWB was also found to be highly divisive. A majority of farmers expressed either strong support or opposition to CWB, reflecting ideologically informed beliefs with regards to the benefits of collective marketing versus the marketing freedom respectively. For the most part, perceptions of farming post-CWB differed between these groups. Opponents of the CWB reported less overall stress with regards to grain marketing compared with CWB supporters. Perceptions of market competition, control, and transparency also varied with ideological views; CWB opponents generally believed they had greater control over their operations, faced adequate competition, and saw the current system as more transparent compared with CWB supporters. Farmers in both groups, however, identified corporate concentration and lack of adequate competition in the grain sector a major concern and source of stress. Given that the CWB remains highly divisive, solutions to improving farmer market power and thus reducing farmer stressors with regards to marketing may rest on reducing corporate power and concentration through legislation rather than reinstating a single desk marketing board, although that is an option that should be seriously considered as well.Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.Mental healthAgriculturePublic policyElectronic Thesis or Dissertation2024-11-07Canadian Wheat BoardCritical realismCritical materialist political economySaskatchewanGrain and oilseed farmersMental health