OTTAWA – What began as a trickle is turning into a flood as Prairie farmers warm up to the challenge of telling the federal government what they want done with the Canadian Wheat Board.
By the end of last week, 700 farmers had contacted agriculture minister Ralph Goodale’s office with advice.
Close to 200 of those letters arrived Aug. 2.
“It began as a trickle about 10 days ago,” said Goodale spokesperson Vern Greenshields. “It has been picking up ever since.”
He said no breakdown of the responses will be done until the deadline for farmer letters passes at the end of August.
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Last chance
In mid-July, Goodale gave farmers one last chance to comment on the future of the board and the proposals of the Western Grain Marketing Panel before he decides this autumn what changes to make.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen has said the call for farmer response is the equivalent of a plebiscite on the future of the board.
Meanwhile, a Reform member of Parliament last week accused the National Farmers Union of trying to distort the response Goodale receives.
Saskatchewan MP and Reform agriculture spokesperson Elwin Hermanson said the NFU has been urging its members to “flood” talk shows and the minister’s office with pro-board opinions.
Hermanson said he considers
the NFU an “extreme minority” which does not want significant changes to the board. On the other side are Farmers for Justice, who would all but destroy the board, he said.
“I think once the group between the two extremes finds out about the public relations campaign by the NFU to stymie reform of the Canadian Wheat Board, it will backfire on them,” he said. “I think it will have a detrimental effect.”
At the NFU head office in Saskatoon, executive secretary Darrin Qualman said Aug. 2 the NFU is trying to rally support for the board and it is encouraging farmers to send a very clear message to Goodale.
“We are uneasy that the questions Mr. Goodale asked are vague and he will be the one to interpret the responses,” said Qualman.
So rather than get into long detailed answers on the content of the questions that Goodale asked, farmers should say they support the board completely, he said.
“We are encouraging farmers to respond and to tell the minister they are 100 percent behind the board and 100 percent behind single-desk selling,” he said.
“We believe the vast majority of farmers support the board and should say so. Lack of response and farmer apathy would be a very dangerous thing.”
Hermanson said he believes most farmers are in the middle on the debate, wanting significant change in the board but not its destruction.
He said the Reform party supports that view.
