Simmering tension between past leaders of a provincial pulse grower group, a high profile breeder and the national association is coming to a boil.
A slate of three candidates running to fill three empty board of director positions at Saskatchewan Pulse Growers are pushing for dramatic changes at Pulse Canada.
“This is the most important election we’ve had with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers,” said former chair Jim Moen.
Moen, past chair Shawn Buhr and University of Saskatchewan pulse crop breeder Bert Vandenberg say it is unacceptable that SPG holds only two spots on Pulse Canada’s seven-member board, given that SPG provides close to 70 percent of Pulse Canada’s annual core funding.
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Two of the remaining board positions belong to the Canadian Special Crops Association and one each to grower groups in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
“Certainly we need to be represented accordingly at the Pulse Canada board table,” said Moen.
“We should have a majority at that table. That’s an appropriate model.”
Moen said that if elected, he would consider withholding funding to get the changes he is seeking.
Pulse Canada chair and SPG director David Nobbs said the current SPG board has no issues with the national organization.
“There is no rift between Pulse Canada and Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. None whatsoever. There are a couple of individuals that have some issues and they’ve had the same issues for 10 years and they want another kick at the cat,” he said.
Gordon Bacon, chief executive officer of Pulse Canada, said governance changes are already in the works.
The structure will evolve so that the make-up of the board is closely linked to financial contributions. The board will be increased to nine members, with the extra two spots going to Saskatchewan.
“There has been agreement reached around the Pulse Canada table on that. It’s just the bylaws haven’t been amended yet,” he said.
Bacon said the discussions started two years ago and consensus was reached in the summer, long before it became an SPG election issue.
Moen, Buhr and Vandenberg also want better accountability and communication from Pulse Canada, improved relationships with provincial grower groups and more joint planning on projects.
They believe that could be accomplished by moving the national organization’s headquarters to Saskatoon from Winnipeg.
“We feel being closer to Pulse Canada would improve all of those things,” said Moen.
Nobbs doesn’t understand the complaints surrounding accountability. He spoke to a former SPG chair recently who claimed he has never seen financial statements.
“That’s ludicrous. They’re done quarterly. Work plans are submitted quarterly to Saskatchewan Pulse Growers,” he said.
“Comments like that have really disturbed me because they’re not true.”
Bacon said Pulse Canada operates under tight controls. For instance, any contract over $50,000 requires signatures of staff and board members even when the board has already approved the project.
Nobbs said there would be no value in relocating the head office to Saskatoon from Winnipeg, which is the heart of the grain trade and home to an international airport.
“I’m a diehard Saskatchewan guy, but just to move something there just so it’s there doesn’t make any sense. It’s ideology,” he said.
Lyle Minogue, another past chair of SPG, agreed that it is folly to uproot the families of Pulse Canada staff for no apparent reason.
He also questions the need for a shake-up of the Pulse Canada board. Minogue can’t recall an occasion where a SPG representative on the board wanted something done at Pulse Canada and was voted down.
“That has never happened,” he said.
He suspects that “petty personal stuff” is behind the uprising against Pulse Canada.
Moen acknowledged that there are some hurt feelings. He said it’s a shame that the provincial and national pulse groups don’t better use Vandenberg’s vast experience in research and market development.
“He has felt excluded,” said Moen. “I don’t think Bert has been properly consulted.”
Minogue said Vandenberg feels the future of the pulse industry is in marketing whole seeds and not the flours and fractions that Pulse Canada has been promoting.
“The silly part is we can do both. We don’t have to pick one or the other,” Minogue said.
Vandenberg has no problem with companies fractionating pulses, but he doesn’t think Pulse Canada needs to be actively promoting such value-added activity.
“Those are business functions and there’s lots of businesses out there.”
Bacon said he gets his marching orders from the board, which has expressed an interest in promoting that aspect of the pulse business.
Ballots for the election have been mailed to registered pulse producers. The returning officer must receive them no later that Dec. 2. Results will be announced in mid-December.
