Results of the barley marketing plebiscite are in, but farmers in Saskatchewan and Alberta are hearing contradictory views on how to interpret the vote’s outcome.
“I think it’s a solid victory for the overwhelming majority who support the board,” said Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall.
“It’s very important now that the federal government put this issue to bed by saying it’s over.”
Not so, says former Alberta agriculture minister Walter Paszkowski, who was moved to the transportation portfolio last week.
“To have 37 percent that would get rid of the board completely is higher than I would have expected,” he said. “If the wheat board doesn’t make changes fairly quickly, that momentum is growing very dramatically.”
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On almost every point of interpretation Paszkowski and Upshall express contrary opinions:
Upshall thinks 62.9 percent support for a wheat board barley monopoly is akin to a massive political landslide. Paszkowski sees the 37.1 percent vote for an open market as a huge indictment of the board.
Upshall thinks the plebiscite was based on a fair question. Paszkowski thinks the plebiscite question should have included a dual market option, which means a voluntary wheat board competing against private grain companies.
Upshall thinks the plebiscite result should end the divisive debate that has set farmer against farmer. Paszkowski thinks the farmer vs farmer conflict will continue until the federal government gives producers control over how they sell their grain.
Upshall said the plebiscite results prove he speaks for farmers when he tells federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale to support the board’s monopoly powers.
Paszkowski said the recent provincial election, in which his party won all the rural seats, proves he speaks for farmers when he tells Goodale that producers are insisting on an end to the wheat board’s monopoly.
