opinion
It may seem odd, but individuals have every right to seek election to the Canadian Wheat Board advisory committee in order to help their campaigns to cripple the board. It’s their democratic right, just as Quebec separatists were able to become Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition by getting enough votes.
In an ideal world, the only farmers who would be candidates for the committee would be those who are genuinely committed to helping find ways to make the board more effective. But there is a vocal group of farmers who feel life would be better without a wheat board, and they deserve an opportunity to make their case.
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In the longer run, it may be healthy that this year has brought a rash of candidates who want to weaken the board’s powers. The committee will have much more credibility because its members will have been elected in a vote involving full participation by both defenders and critics of the board.
If non-supporters had somehow been blocked from running, or if they had chosen to ignore the elections, then there would be lingering doubts about the representativeness of the farmer-elected advisory committee.
In theory, this election shouldn’t really matter, considering that the committee has no power except to give occasional advice the wheat board can easily ignore.
But in practice, a lot is at stake in these elections, since governments, news media, farm organizations and farmers themselves will view the votes as almost a mini-referendum on the wheat board. And the elected individuals will have an easier time promoting their views through media interviews.
That makes it all the more essential for supporters of orderly marketing and single-desk selling to mail in their ballots. Even if a pro-board candidate seems certain to win in a particular district, politicians and others will be watching the vote totals to see how many people support that person and other like-minded candidates. In that sense, every vote will count, for and against. This is not a time for apathy.
For more than half a century, the wheat board has played a major role in Prairie farm families’ economic survival. Its single-desk marketing powers and ability to work in harmony with the grain transportation system have done much to offset farmers’ economic disadvantage of being far from major seaports. Even the board’s opponents concede that it has a major impact on farmers (although in their convoluted view, that impact is negative).
For all these reasons, it is essential that farmers take time to inform themselves on the candidates (perhaps starting with the list on page 48 of this issue), and then vote.
