The choice has never been so clear, nor the stakes so high.
As the federal government moves ahead with plans to replace the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly with an open market for wheat and barley, tens of thousands of grain farmers in Western Canada have a chance in the next few weeks to send a message to Ottawa.
They’ll be able to do so by voting in the CWB director elections, either for candidates who want to retain the single desk or for those who want to bring in an open market system.
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Industry officials say they hope the government pays attention to the outcome.
“Who gets elected should be an indication of what producers are thinking out there,” said Ken McBride, president of Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan.
Keystone Agricultural Producers president David Rolfe said he hopes the government uses the election results as a “bellwether” on how to proceed with its plans.
“If there is a full slate of pro single desk candidates returned, that would be a clear signal to government and vice versa.”
Other issues will be discussed over the course of the upcoming two-month campaign, but observers say that when it comes to filling out a ballot, farmers will probably vote for or against the single desk.
“I hope it’s not the only issue on the table, but realistically it will be front and centre,” said Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association president Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, who wants farmers to vote for candidates willing to make changes to the board.
In each of the five districts holding an election, the candidates will offer a clear choice on that crucial issue.
Under the CWB monopoly, prairie farmers must market their wheat, malting barley and export feed barley through the wheat board.
Here are the candidates, as of 4 p.m. CST Oct. 23, and where they stand in the single desk versus open market debate:
- District 1 – Incumbent Art Macklin of Grande Prairie, Alta., a supporter of the single desk, will be seeking his third and final term as a director.
Challenging him will be Henry Vos of Fairview, Alta., who supports an end to the board’s single desk status.
- District 3 – Larry Hill of Swift Current, Sask., will be running for re-election to his third term, and campaigning to retain the board’s single desk.
He will face two open market supporters, Stephen Vandervalk, a Fort Macleod, Alta., farmer and Conrad Johnson of Bracken, Sask.
- District 5 – Allen Oberg of Forestburg, Alta., first elected in 2002, is running for re-election. He favours retaining the board’s single desk authority.
Tom Jackson of Killam, Alta., is running as an opponent of the single desk.
- District 7 – Director Dwayne Anderson of Fosston, Sask., who wants to see the single desk eliminated, will be seeking his second term.
He will be challenged by Kyle Korneychuk of Pelly, Sask., who strongly supports retention of the single desk.
- District 9 – Two-term incumbent Bill Nicholson of Shoal Lake, Man., a supporter of the single desk, will face two challengers.
Bruce Dalgarno of Newdale, Man., supports elimination of the single desk and implementation of an open market system.
Derrick Beischer of Inglis, Man., said he favours the single desk, but proposes putting one of the major wheat classes onto the open market as a trial.
The official close of nominations was 6 p.m. CST, Oct. 23. However that deadline was being informally extended for several days due to confusion caused by the government’s unexpected decision last week to change voter eligibility rules.
The government announced that it was eliminating from the voters list more than 16,000 farmers who hadn’t made a sale to the CWB in two years.
The original voters list was 44,578. It won’t be known for several weeks how many farmers will receive a ballot.
Those farmers dropped from the list can vote if they sign a declaration that they grew one of the seven eligible grains in the past two years.
National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells said many farmers may be reluctant to fill out the declaration form.
He said that could result in a low turnout, giving the government a reason to dismiss the significance of the election results if they go in favour of single desk candidates.
McBride hopes that all of the publicity about the government’s plans will result in a higher voter response than the 40 percent that has been the norm.
“This is an opportunity for producers to make their voice heard and if they don’t avail themselves of this avenue, then it’s a sorry state of affairs,” he said.
