The sometimes troubled and contentious Canadian Wheat Board election process is going under the microscope.
CWB minister Reg Alcock has announced a review of the rules and regulations governing the biennial vote for 10 CWB farmer directors.
A panel made up of three farmers and a former provincial elections official in Saskatchewan is expected to file a report by October, with an eye to implementing changes in time for the 2006 vote.
The terms of reference include virtually every aspect of the election, including who should be eligible to vote, the debate over one-farmer-one-vote versus a weighted ballot, the makeup of electoral districts, limits on spending by candidates and third parties, the preferential ballot, who should run the election and a code of conduct for candidates and the CWB during the election period.
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All those issues have been raised during the four elections that have been held since 1998.
The 2004 election was marred by the accidental omission of hundreds of eligible farmers from the voters list and a court challenge that delayed the vote count.
However, a spokesperson for Alcock said the decision to hold the review is not a direct result of the problems with the last election.
“Absolutely not,” said Lise Jolicoeur. “After every election we’ve heard concerns raised by farmers and it’s time to look at it all again and see what we can do to strengthen the system.”
The review panel will consist of David Rolfe of Elgin, Man., president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, Cecilia Olver of Corning, Sask., vice-president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, and Greg Porozni of Willingdon, Alta., a member of the Alberta Grain Commission. Janice Baker, former chief electoral officer for Saskatchewan, is a special adviser to the panel.
The review was welcomed by CWB chair Ken Ritter, who said the board was involved in developing the terms of reference and putting forward names for the panel.
“This is going to be a comprehensive and all-encompassing look at how CWB directors should be elected,” he said. “After four elections, it’s time to have a look at the whole process.”
He said the panel is made up of “independent thinkers” who are well respected throughout the agricultural community in Western Canada.
However, National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells said while the NFU has no problem with the review, it has a “huge problem” with the appointment of Porozni to the panel.
“His appointment is an embarrassment to the government and an insult to farmers,” he said.
The NFU’s objection stems from the 2002 election, in which Porozni was an unsuccessful candidate in District 5.
During that campaign, the NFU criticized Porozni for being a member of a producer committee working with Monsanto Canada on the issue of introducing Roundup Ready wheat, which the CWB opposed.
The farmers union said that put the candidate in a conflict of interest. The election co-ordinator did not find Porozni to be in a conflict of interest.
“Surely the government could have found somebody else who was not involved so directly in CWB election issues,” he said, adding the NFU is considering asking the government to replace Porozni on the panel.
Porozni said he was surprised and disappointed by the NFU’s criticisms.
“There is no relevance at all between the election process review and what happened in 2002,” he said.
Porozni said his name was put forward by the CWB board of directors, which indicates he has credibility in the agricultural community.
While he described the NFU’s comments as petty, he said he won’t let the difference of opinion affect his approach to the review.
“I’m not going to hold anything against them because I think we have to move forward,” he said, adding it’s important to “clean up” the voting process so that the election is open and transparent and has credibility with all producers.
Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said the association is happy with the panel members and looks forward to the review.
“I don’t think anybody out there can say this system has run smoothly,” she said.
The association will have suggestions for improving the process, she said, including weighting the ballot to reflect individual producers’ economic stake in the CWB, providing farmers who have abandoned cereal grains because of their unhappiness with single desk marketing a chance to participate in the vote and turning management of the election over to Elections Canada.
Wells said he also has concerns that Saskatchewan farmers are underrepresented on the panel, with one of three farmer members, given the fact that they produce the majority of grains marketed by the CWB.
