Might is right?
The Canadian Wheat Board over the past 10 years has advised the organic industry that only by a change to the CWB Act could they legally consider export permits without imposing the buyback. The Canadian Wheat Board has made their position very clear and has included their decision in two of their discussion papers.
Organic farmers have challenged the CWB interpretation of their act and now have received confirmation that in fact the CWB Act does not restrict the board from issuing no-cost export permits.
Read Also
Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
The CWB still insists that growers in the designated area pay the buyback. Producers outside the designated area, however, are granted export permits with no buyback restriction.
The CWB’s inability to accurately interpret their act reflects poorly upon them, for the only reason they exist is by virtue of the same CWB Act.
It is increasingly clear that might is right, even when it discriminates and flies in the face of the federal statute that applies to Canada.
– Bill Rees,
Stockholm, Sask.
Step up
Never has the challenge been so large or so obvious, and been around for so long. Where has all the courage, strength, and determination of our forefathers gone?
The surplus rises, according to Canfax, to 300,000 fat cattle this fall, let alone the 500,000 head of cattle over 30 months in Alberta.
Are all of today’s politicians wimps? Can any of them rise to the challenge?
We in Alberta are desperate for more slaughter capacity. For politicians to sit back and say “let private enterprise do it” is a poor excuse with agriculture debt at an all time high and increasing at a high rate.
The government must step up to the plate. What was the Heritage Fund created for? A rainy day? Isn’t this what we have now?
The question of testing all cattle is often questioned and our ranch cattle are compared to Japan’s herds and how they handle and feed. There is no comparison, and the same applies to the cattle herds in Europe.
Our calves are not fed anything other than milk and grass. The only BSE cows in North America have been dairy cattle and a purebred cow that was fed extra supplements when young. The most recent cow in the U.S. is another dairy animal.
Now is the time for all good men and women in politics within Alberta to rise to the challenge.
– Jack Horner,
Pollockville, Alta.
Well done
Well done, Canada. Once again we gave in to the Liberal campaign of fear and smear, electing the very government that pilfered $100 million of our tax dollars.
We have now lost the right to complain when the next scandal rears its head, because this time we elected them knowing what we had previously only suspected.
The Liberals have a new mandate. A new mandate to continue pillaging our nation’s coffers. Enjoy paying your taxes.
– Andrew Harwood,
Ottawa, Ont.
Can’t wait
Open letter to Paul Martin:
The campaign struggle is over but agriculture’s struggles continue. Parliament must act now, regardless of party colours.
Parliament isn’t usually a place associated with action, especially when it’s not sitting for the summer, but farmers can’t wait.
Prime minister, please allow the agriculture committee to begin finding solutions immediately. This work may be on an ad hoc basis until we return to Parliament, but this work is crucial.
The livestock industry is a strong and integral part of our economy, but producers are losing hope. …
We must get international borders open. We must provide workable and bankable aid programs. We must review aid programs for the livestock industry and move forward to allow the Competition Bureau to provide an unbiased accounting of the packing industry’s involvement.
We must start immediately.
Avian flu has fallen from the front pages, but many farmers are still waiting for answers. They need detailed compensation information and in-depth assessments to find out how the disease spread so quickly. We need to provide those answers now.
Agricultural safety nets are too full of holes for producers to depend on. Provinces such as Saskatchewan worry they won’t have the funds to cover their disproportionate shares of programs.
Complex applications and high premiums make programs too expensive for farmers to sign on to. We can’t wait for more farms to fail before addressing these flaws….
Canadian farmers expect your answer.
– Gerry Ritz,
MP, Battlefords/Lloydminster,
Battleford, Sask.
Testing question
I have been watching with great interest the debate over whether we should be testing all cattle for BSE.
Several years ago, CWD, a country cousin to BSE, was discovered in farmed elk in Saskatchewan. Borders slammed shut. Initially, the government implemented a voluntary surveillance program. When that flew about as well as chickens do, they implemented a mandatory program whereby 100 percent of the elk that die or are slaughtered are tested for CWD.
The problem with a mandatory 100 percent system is that you have to ensure compliance. For our industry, they decided that all farms must undergo a physical herd inventory each year. Every elk on the property, including calves, is run through the chute for inspection and their ear tags recorded by a government inspector.
Despite almost two and a half years of mandatory testing and compliance, not a single animal has turned up with CWD and not a single border has reopened to our animals or velvet antler.
Oh, and just last week we received notice that every year, we have to pay for a veterinarian to inspect the herd and observe, on at least one occasion, the harvesting of velvet antler. When will the insanity end?
The fact is, 100 percent testing for BSE won’t get your borders reopened any sooner. My suggestion to Canadian cattle producers is do no more and no less than your integrated U.S. counterparts. To do otherwise, I believe, would be sheer folly.
Rest assured that George W. Bush, with his economic weapons of mass destruction, will bully the rest of the world’s trading partners into reopening their borders to U.S. beef. If we follow U.S. protocols, exactly to the letter, nobody can deny us, including the U.S.
– James A. Uhrich,
Zealandia, Sask.
Ottawa bashing
In the recent federal election, Ralph Klein has been accused of sabotaging Stephen Harper in the last week of the campaign with his plans for health-care reform.
While I acknowledge his views may be public record, one has to wonder why a seasoned political veteran like Ralph would choose such a sensitive time to bring this to forefront in such a closely contested election.
The answer is quite simply for purely selfish reasons. Ralph would look bad “Ottawa bashing” if the Conservatives were to form the government and therefore would not be able get headlines to further his own political career.
It is a sad reality that public servants ignore what is best for the public to advance their own personal agendas.
– Matthew Campbell,
Olds, Alta.
Bad super rich
The June 3 letters by Don Scott, Gislain, Sylvianne and Jeremie Tardif revealed a few examples signifying the real government of Canada is of European origin secretly working globally to benefit a few. Their agents of various cultures are money-loving clever minds working to deceive, infiltrate and degrade public serving industries …
The super rich commonly pose as philanthropists while turning nation against nation. …
To attain order, the masses must learn of this, then demand our politicians pay attention to the people and not private corporations. Withdraw from international trade agreements. Implement the democratic money supply system based on the production of real goods and services rather than continue the private corporate fractional deposit system.
– Stuart Makaroff,
Saskatoon, Sask.
