The Canadian Wheat Board is spending $1.4 million on a national advertising campaign aimed at galvanizing public support for the CWB and convincing the Harper government to abandon plans to end single desk grain marketing.
The campaign — which began last week with a full page advertisement in the Toronto Globe and Mail — will include newspaper ads, radio commercials and television spots and is expected to run until the end of November, said CWB chair Allen Oberg.
“The cost of … (the campaign) is $1.4 million in media costs so when you compare that to the $500 million a year that’s at stake with the loss of the single desk, that’s a rather small amount,” said Oberg.
On a per tonne basis, Oberg said the campaign will cost Western Canadian grain farmers about seven cents per tonne.
“To me it’s a rather modest campaign,” he said.
“I don’t like spending farmers money any more than I have to but … it’s incumbent upon us to not only make farmers but also the general public aware of how this legislation is being rammed through parliament….”
The ad that appeared in the Globe and Mail last week showed a piece of heavy machinery used for rolling asphalt.
A caption above the image read: This is how the Harper government harvests wheat in Canada.
The ad also made reference to the CWB’s recently concluded producer plebiscite and encouraged readers to send a text message to Canadian MPs, voicing support of the CWB.
By texting the word FARMER to 24680, letters will automatically be sent to local members of parliament and the prime minister.
According to Oberg, approval of the campaign did not require a vote among wheat board directors.
Instead, the ad campaign was part of a larger CWB response that was discussed by wheat board directors and approved at the board level.
“This (advertising) campaign was not really discussed in specific terms but there were resolutions to cover the approval of resources to dissuade the government from … (ending) the single desk.” Oberg said.
There was no budget figures attached to wheat board efforts aimed at dissuading the federal government from dismantling the single desk, he added.
Directors felt the board needed financial flexibility to respond as the as it saw fit as the situation evolved.
“There really was no budget because … so much of this is reacting to the government’s (moves) as they come along,” Oberg said.
“We were hoping not to have a legal challenge. We were hoping the government would do the right thing but again in these situations you have to react to the next move that the government.”
The decision to spend money from farmers’ pool accounts on an anti-government campaign generated a predictable response among open market advocates.
The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association confirmed Nov. 3 that it had launched a legal action against the CWB for misuse of farmers’ money.
The WCWGA contends that the wheat board and Oberg are violating laws that prohibit the board from using pool accounts to lobby for retention of the single desk.
The association is also seeking a court injunction preventing the CWB from proceeding with its own lawsuit against the federal government.
“The wheat growers are taking this action to ensure that farmers’ money is not misspent,” said WCWGA chair Gerrid Gust.
“If certain directors wish to spend money on a political campaign, they should be spending heir own money, not mine.”
Federal agriculture Gerry Ritz also issued a statement to media suggesting that Ottawa will not stray from its agenda.
“It’s clear that Mr. Oberg will not hesitate in spending farmer’s money and wasting farmer’s time in hopes of keeping his job and forcing farmers to marketing through the Wheat Board,” Ritz said.
“(He) is doing a great disservice to the farmers and staff he claims to represent by refusing to work with us to give the Canadian Wheat Board the best chance to succeed in an open market.”
Asked whether he felt the CWB had a realistic chance of convincing Ottawa to reconsider its position, Oberg said he and other directors feel duty-bound to oppose Ottawa’s plans, uphold the law and protect farmers’ rights.
“Until this bill receives royal assent …there is always time for the government … to do the right thing…,” Oberg said.
“Give the magnitude of this issue and what’s at stake, it would be wrong for us to give up this fight at this time ….”
