Canadian Farmers for Justice, which began with an anti-Canadian Wheat Board rally in Regina in October 1994, was the first group of organized farmers that set out to break the board’s monopoly.
Today, the group claims a membership of 1,500 people who have paid the donation membership, and many more supporters, said spokesperson Art Manil.
The group has eased the campaign of illegal border runs for the time being, but that could change.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to realize our freedom to market our product to the highest bidder,” said Manil.
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During the last year, the anti-board movement has splintered as some farmers distanced themselves from border runs.
“Gradually people were dropping off because it was like we were flogging a dead horse with that approach,” said Portage la Prairie, Man. farmer Jim Pallister. “It’s a positive thing, like cell division, and you grow into something new.”
By shying away from civil disobedience and concentrating on court challenges, the new Canadian Farm Enterprise Network hopes to attract a wider range of farmers.
The CFEN is organized under a loose structure including a chair and several farmers who sit on the board of advisers. The group doesn’t hold traditional farm meetings, but keeps up regular communication via phone, fax and electronic mail, said chair Russ Larson.
The group has 1,000 members who have paid a $500 membership to get on the fax system, which provides updates and information on new developments. Memberships operate on a sliding scale, where $200 establishes membership but doesn’t pay for weekly updates. The $100,000 the group has collected for Dave Bryan’s trial is separate from membership revenue.
Neither the FFJ or the CFEN say they want to see the wheat board abolished. “We would like to see it stay there as a choice, as a true co-operative where farmers run the organization,” said Larson.
