CAMROSE, Alta. – Everett Tanis was surprised when he got a late-night telephone call asking if he wanted a ballot for the upcoming Alberta grain marketing plebiscite.
The Picture Butte farmer was even more surprised when the caller said he was being paid by the provincial government.
“He told me ‘I’m getting paid by the provincial government,’ “said Tanis, a director on the Alberta Soft Wheat Producers Commission, a group that has chosen to stay neutral in the debate on whether farmers should be allowed to sell wheat and barley internationally outside the Canadian Wheat Board.
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Paid by government
“I told him when he sends a ballot send me a job too,” said Tanis. That’s when the caller who said he was representing a group of dual-market supporters told him he was being paid by the government.
Ron Glen, executive assistant to Alberta agriculture minister Walter Paszkowski, said the government is not funding any organization in the debate.
“We’ve not given any money to conduct any campaign – on either side,” said Glen of Edmonton.
Pat Durnin, chair of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers said their group isn’t getting money from the province to fund the campaign.
No money exchanged hands
“There’s not been one dime given to either side that I know of.”
Kathy Cooper of the Western Barley Growers Association said they hadn’t received any money from the government for the campaign. She suggested maybe the caller was hired from groups wanting to maintain the wheat board’s monopoly to make their side look bad.
Chief returning officer Harold Hanna issued a news release saying the government isn’t involved in the telemarketing campaigns.
“This activity is normal and to be expected. As the chief returning officer for the plebiscite, I have no involvement in or any responsibility for such campaigns. These activities are independent of the Plebiscite Returning Office,” said Hanna.
