At the same time as grain farmers’ incomes are going south, so are the members of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.
The association made headlines last week when national news organizations learned of its long-standing plans to hold its annual convention in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The National Post ran a front page column under the headline: Farmers’ New Cry: Two Coronas!
National television and radio carried stories about the meeting and it was the subject of calls to radio phone-in shows and letters-to-the-editor across Western Canada.
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Rival farm organizations like the National Farmers Union took the wheat growers to task for sending the wrong signal about the financial health of prairie farmers.
All of which has left association president Kevin Archibald baffled.
“I didn’t expect all this attention,” he said in a telephone interview as he drove to the Winnipeg airport last weekend to catch his flight to Mexico.
Much of the coverage by national news organizations has contrasted the trip to Mexico with calls by prairie farmers and governments for $1 billion in emergency aid from the federal government.
Archibald said most of the criticism has come from outside his organization, from farmers who don’t like the wheat growers’ philosophy and politics, or from eastern-based media outlets who see it as a sensational story and an opportunity to campaign against farm aid.
“We haven’t had any negative reaction from members,” he said.
In fact, he said, since the convention became the subject of such extensive coverage, a number of members have called to ask if there was still time to register.
However, former WCWGA director Leo Meyer of Woking, Alta., told the National Post he resigned from the board last month to protest the decision to hold the convention in Mexico.
Archibald said that’s not true. He said Meyer was asked to resign over “serious” issues, which he didn’t want to disclose, but the convention location was not one of them.
“The reasons are quite serious and it had nothing to do with the convention at all.”
Meyer could not be reached for further comment.
As well, at least two association members are unhappy with the Mexican trip.
In a letter to the editor of The Western Producer, farmers Les and Wilma Shoemaker of Mossbank, Sask., said they were resigning their membership in protest.
“How can we go cap in hand to Ottawa or drive down Albert Street with our tractors and then retreat to the tropics to debate these issues,” they wrote in a Dec. 13 letter.
The wheat growers association was part of a delegation of politicians and farm leaders that lobbied Ottawa for $1.3 billion in financial assistance last fall. However, the association has traditionally opposed ad hoc aid payments, arguing that reforms to grain handling, transportation and marketing systems, along with an improved long-term safety net program, tax relief and an end to international trade subsidies will do more to improve the farm economy.
As of last week, 400 members and spouses had registered for the convention, making it one of the biggest in the association’s 30-year history.
The meeting is being held at the Velas Vallarta Grand Suite Resort, described in promotional literature as the most splendid, deluxe accommodation in the Puerto Vallarta area. The 10-acre beach front “vacation paradise” is situated at a “lush, tropical” ocean-front location, and boasts three pools, four tennis courts and a golf course nearby. The regular room rate is $240 (U.S.) per night, although the association was able to strike a group deal for about one-third that amount.
Archibald said members will be able to learn first-hand about trade opportunities with the rapidly expanding Mexican market. Trade experts will discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement, a couple of Alberta farmers who trade livestock and grain products directly to Mexico will discuss their experiences and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen will discuss his company’s investment in a grain terminal at nearby Manzanillo.
Airfare to Mexico is not much more than flying from Calgary to Winnipeg or Brandon to Vancouver, and with discounts for group booking, convention organizers decided the cost was affordable. All members are paying their own expenses.
“We were very concerned about the optics of going to Mexico, but people kept asking us to do it, so we booked it,” said Archibald.
