VULCAN, Alta. – Lone wolf incumbent Jim Chatenay is willing to have another kick at the can as a Canadian Wheat Board director.
He is not without competition in District 2 as challengers Adam Campbell of Rosalind, Alta., and Ken Larsen of Red Deer have also come forward. Larsen and Campbell both support the board’s sales monopoly on exports of western Canadian wheat and barley and on domestic wheat and barley for human use.
Chatenay is the only current board director who supports a voluntary wheat board.
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Reprimanded a number of times by his colleagues on the board, he is considered a rebel and a rabble-rouser with his refusal to sign a code of conduct and insistence on promoting a dual market for western Canadian farmers.
“We need to be a voluntary board or we will self-destruct,” he said before a small group of farmers at a candidates’ forum in Vulcan, sponsored by the Alberta Grain Commission.
He defended his maverick stance saying he is following the wishes of his constituents. He believes there is growing support in the countryside for a more radical change to the board that would allow prairie farmers to sell their grain as they choose within the Canadian borders.
“Let’s stop this arguing about dual marketing. Everyone says it won’t work. It will work.”
Chatenay had some praise for the achievements of the board in the last two years.
“The board pricing options are a small step in the right direction but they are not a substitute for marketing choice for producers.”
He also praised the feed barley marketing program, which attracted additional farmer deliveries because payment was offered sooner.
Larsen was absent from this forum but Campbell was there to challenge Chatenay’s views.
An immigrant from Scotland in 1996, Campbell said he did not feel he had any marketing power as a Scottish farmer until he joined a farmer-run grain-selling co-operative.
After living in Canada, he prefers the wheat board’s style of single-desk selling.
He doubts a dual market system could work as well as a single agent handling all the grain. A monopoly gives the seller more respect and clout in a competitive world where they must face multinational grain companies. Individuals cannot do this, he said.
Campbell also disagreed with Chatenay’s view that the board should not take possession of grain until it is loaded onto ships. Campbell said he does not trust the railways with farmers’ grain and wants the board to stay involved because it can negotiate with railways and grain companies on behalf of farmers.
Campbell said he would sign the directors’ code of conduct because he regards it as rules of the game. However, he added that if he was in complete disagreement over a serious issue, he would resign.
Farmers at this forum told the candidates they want more communication with their director. It could come in the form of minutes of board meetings, advance notice of board meeting agendas and more country meetings.
