CAMROSE, Alta. – There was only one topic that could get Alberta farmers away from talking about the miserable prairie weather – the provincial plebiscite results on grain marketing.
But their thoughts were as wide ranging as the cold front covering the province.
Olds farmer Wayne Jackson said he hopes the plebiscite will give Alberta agriculture minister Walter Paszkowski enough information to make a strong case to his federal counterpart that Alberta farmers want change.
Jackson said there may not be sweeping changes from the vote, but it is only a matter of time before there is more free movement of grain between Canada and the United States.
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“Slowly but surely it will come,” he said.
Expanded options wanted
In his community there was no strong sentiment to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board, but farmers wanted more grain marketing options, he said. The wheat board holds a monopoly on international sales of western grown wheat and barley.
Further north at Camrose, Gerald Pilger said he wasn’t surprised at the outcome. The Camrose farmer was disappointed there wasn’t a regional breakdown of how farmers voted.
“I suspect all the yeses came from southern Alberta. If there’s change it will come at the expense of Peace (northern) and central Alberta farmers,” he said.
During a conference call with reporters announcing the results, Paszkowski said no effort was made to identify the votes from each polling station.
“Why would we? This is a province, it wasn’t done on a regional basis,” said the minister from Chicago.
About 80 percent of the producers voted at polling stations set up across the province. The rest of the results were mailed in. A total of 16,151 farmers registered to vote out of a possible 36,000 to 40,000 barley and wheat producers.
Harold Hanna, chief returning officer, said an equal number of producers voted from the four regions of the province. Between 23 and 28 percent of farmers from the south, central, northeast and northwest voted.
Charles Jenkins of Grassland said he’s worried the low voter turnout will allow the agriculture minister to think farmers support dual marketing.
“I think he’ll think all of Alberta will believe in dual marketing,” said Jenkins.
Don Anderson said he doesn’t think the vote will make much difference since the vote was provincial and the act governing the wheat board is federal.
The Consort farmer thinks a more legitimate vote could have been asked when farmers filled out their wheat board permit book.
Champion farmer Alan Pasolli was so disgusted with the way the question was worded he wrote his local MLA saying Alberta made Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau look good.
“I think it stinks,” was his assessment.
