The latest move by this government is mind boggling. They claim it is just to clean up voters lists.... in your dreams! The Ministers' comments are full of inconsistencies. Read all about it in the following Globe & Mail Article as well as the latest comments surrounding this issues from Ms. Holm.-cg
Farmers removed from voting list
BILL CURRY 18/10/06 Globe and Mail
OTTAWA -- The Conservative government has removed 16,000 farmers from the Canadian Wheat Board voters list, fuelling accusations that the Tories are interfering with this fall's election.
The upcoming elections will have a significant impact on whether the Tories can deliver on a campaign pledge to end the Wheat Board's monopoly over wheat sales. Currently all wheat farmers must sell their crop to the board, which then sells it on their behalf.
The decision on voters comes on the heels of a government order described by the board chair and opposition as a "gag" on current board members.
The government issued an Order in Council last week that forbids the board from spending money to advocate "the retention of its monopoly powers."
In an interview, board chairman Ken Ritter expressed concern that the government has changed the voter list in the middle of the Sept. 7-Dec. 1 election campaign, but said the board neither supports nor opposes the change.
The advocacy ban, however, is "not the Canadian way of doing things," he said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the decisions in the House of Commons.
"The directors of the Wheat Board have the ability to express any opinion they want," Mr. Harper insisted. "They are engaged right now in an electoral process and the Wheat Board has an absolute responsibility to respect the opinions of all western farmers, not just those who agree with it."
Supporters of the change to the board say it will allow farmers to shop for better prices. Critics say the current process works well and won't survive in an open market.
Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said the voters list has been cleaned up to remove farmers who haven't used the board for the past two years. Those 16,000 farmers can still apply for a ballot if they have been growing wheat, he said.
"This is I think a pretty straightforward thing. Most farmers would say and most Canadians would say if you're going to have farmer elections to a Wheat Board, you don't have the potato farmers voting in it. And you don't have non-producers. You have people who are actually producing grain," Mr. Strahl said.
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Sender: Wendy Holm, P.Ag. holm@farmertofarmer.ca
Unprecedented moves this week by the Harper government to change the rules in the middle of the current election process for three CWB directors - dictating which farmers are eligible to vote and disqualifying 36 percent of producers from automatically receiving a ballot - may be tolerated in a tin pot dictatorship. It is not acceptable in Canada.
The below are now posted on my CWB web-page:
http://www.theholmteam.ca/CWB.html
1. Oct 17th response by CWB Director Art Macklin, DeBolt, Alberta to Harper government's interference in CWB election process.
2. Oct 12th article appearing in the Winnipeg Free Press : Not-so-benign dictator attacks wheat board.
to view, CLICK HERE AND FOLLOW THE LINKS
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1. Send an email to your MP** telling him that the Harper Government's denial of the democratic rights of Western Canada's grain farmers is unacceptable and must be challenged in the House. Refer them to the web site http://www.theholmteam.ca/CWB.html for background information.
2. Copy it to MP Chuck Strahl at Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca
3. Copy it also to Stephen Harper at Harper.S@parl.gc.ca
Take the time to send an email. Please. On behalf of Canada's farmers, Canada's communities and Canada's future.
Wendy Holm, P.Ag.
** Don't know your MP's email? Get it at http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca
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