The issues haven’t gone away, but it seems the desire to vote may have.
The rate of return of ballots in the 2010 Canadian Wheat Board director election is lagging well behind the previous two elections.
As of Nov. 23, voters had returned 7,611 completed ballots to election coordinator Meyers Norris Penny, according to spokesperson Ian Craven.
By contrast, in 2008, the most recent election in odd-numbered districts, voters had returned 9,906 ballots.
At the same point in the 2006 election, the number of ballots returned was 9,900.
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“We’ll receive more ballots, said Craven.
The election period officially ends Dec. 3, although some ballots will be accepted as late as Dec. 10. The results of the vote count will be announced Dec. 12-13.
“We don’t know why the return is lower, all we know is what we see looking at the numbers,” said Craven.
The election campaign period got off to a slow start, lacking the heated debate over grain marketing of other years. In the absence of candidate meetings and debates, outsiders have been playing a role, both participating in the campaign and urging others to stay out of it.
• The federal New Democrats introduced legislation Nov. 2 to prevent the federal government from using federal tax money to support specific CWB candidates.
• In late October, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association asked federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz to ensure the CWB doesn’t get involved in the campaign.
• A group of single desk supporters called the CWB Alliance launched a website Nov. 14 urging voters to support like-minded candidates.
• In mid-November, Winnipegbased financial and market analyst John De Pape began writing and distributing a regular blog criticizing the performance of the CWB and defending other marketing options.
• A farming company run by Saskatchewan farmer Ben Hudye launched a $50 million plus lawsuit against the CWB on Nov. 17 in a contract dispute over delivery of high quality wheat.
CWB ELECTION BY THE NUMBERS
Here is the number of ballots received by the co-ordinator as of last week in each of the five odd-numbered districts holding an election, along with applications to vote and candidates:
•District 1 – 3,366, plus 34 applications to receive a ballot. The candidates, in alphabetical order, are Daniel Gauthier and incumbent Henry Vos.
•District 3 – 8,660, plus 45. The candidates are Lynn Jacobson, Brett Meinert, Brian Otto and Stewart Wells.
•District 5 – 5,148, plus 35. The candidates are Vicki Dutton and Allen Oberg.
•District 7 – 6,217, plus 42. The candidates are Kyle Korneychuk and Terry Youzwa.
•District 9 – 5,276, plus 36. The candidates are Garry Draper, John Sandborn and Ernie Sirski.
•Total – 28,667, plus 192 applications, for a total of 28,859.
