Alliance Grain Traders says it will build a $50-million pasta processing plant in Regina – an announcement Prime Minister Stephen Harper heralded as proof of the benefits he says will come from dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board's marketing monopoly.
"An open grain market will attract new investment, encourage innovation and create new jobs," Harper said at a news conference in Regina on Friday.
"As we see here today, even the promise of such a market is doing just that."
The multi-purpose durum wheat and pulse milling facility is expected to create 60 full-time jobs when it is completed next year.
Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall were also on hand for the announcement.
Wall noted that 67 per cent of the word's lentil exports come from Saskatchewan.
Harper said the government will introduce legislation to end the wheat board's monopoly soon after MPs return from the Thanksgiving break.
Alliance Grain Traders president and CEO Murad Al-Katib says the plant wouldn't be possible without the impending elimination of single-desk grain marketing.
"There doesn't need to be monopoly protection to ensure that Prairie farmers find their market," Al-Katib said.
"We're evidence of that."
