Jim Chatenay is going to have some unexpected time on his hands – and money in his pockets – this fall.
The Red Deer farmer thought he’d be spending the next few weeks campaigning for re-election to the Canadian Wheat Board’s board of directors.
Instead he appears to have won his District 2 seat by acclamation.
“Any time you can save some money and effort and a bit of stress for the time being, I have to be very happy about that,” he said.
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Election co-ordinator Peter Eckersley said no other candidates had met the filing requirements by the 6 p.m. Oct. 25 deadline. However, he was reluctant to officially confirm Chatenay’s acclamation in case a technical glitch had prevented nomination papers from reaching his office.
Chatenay, an ardent proponent of an open market for wheat and barley, said there are two ways to look at the fact that no one ran against him.
It either shows that farmers view the CWB elections as irrelevant and unimportant, or it shows that farmers in his district are happy with the job he’s doing.
“I guess it depends on how you feel about me,” he said. “I like to stay positive, so to me it’s a vote of confidence.”
Asked if it would have been preferable to have an opponent so that farmers in his district could engage in a debate about CWB-related issues, Chatenay said that’s not up to him.
“The democratic process was open to everybody,” he said. “I can’t hold their hands or force them to run against me.”
The acclamation should send a message to the wheat board that there are a lot of farmers who share his views and must be taken seriously, Chatenay said.
He hopes it will encourage the Alberta government to continue efforts to introduce a test open market for wheat and barley in that province.
Chatenay won his district handily in 2000, garnering 69.2 percent of the votes cast, with two single desk supporters splitting the remaining 30.8 percent.
Ken Larsen of Benalto, Alta., who ran in that election, said opponents of Chatenay decided not to put forward a candidate this time, largely because of the upcoming provincial election in Alberta.
He suggested premier Ralph Klein was almost certainly going to use the CWB election to tour around District 2 supporting Chatenay and bashing the wheat board to divert attention from the provincial government’s “bungling” of the BSE crisis.
“So we decided not to play that game,” he said.
“Let’s sit this one out and not give them a convenient whipping boy.”
