Renegade Manitoba Conservative MP Inky Mark is accusing agriculture minister Chuck Strahl of misrepresenting the views of his northern Manitoba riding on the Canadian Wheat Board issue.
The veteran Dauphin-Swan River MP is the only Conservative to vote in Parliament against weakening the CWB monopoly and to speak out against plans to end the monopoly, arguing that his own government is mishandling the file by trying to impose a solution on farmers.
“I believe farmers themselves should make the decision on the wheat board and clearly in my riding, the majority support the single desk,” Mark said.
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Two days earlier, Strahl seemed to imply Mark’s position did not represent his farmers.
During a news conference in Red Deer to announce the questions for the winter barley plebiscite, Strahl was asked about Mark’s criticisms.
“I haven’t talked to Inky about that, he hasn’t talked to me,” said Strahl.
“The last thing I saw was Inky had a householder and he asked a question about more marketing choice and a majority of people that answered his householder said they wanted more marketing choice for handling their grain.”
Mark said the suggestion that he does not represent his farmers was inappropriate and misleading. He noted that 262 constituents out of 78,000 answered the question included in a mail-out last year and of those, 68 percent said farmers should have the freedom to make their own grain-marketing and transportation decisions with a voluntary CWB.
“That number is just a pittance so it doesn’t represent most of my constituents,” he said.
Mark also said the question was vague and therefore the results irrelevant. Still, Mark did report the results of his informal poll to his constituents, offering ammunition to board opponents.
However, he said phone calls from his constituents are running nine-to-one against the government approach and in favour of letting farmers decide.
He said the government-designed questions in the barley vote are misleading because they offer the voluntary CWB as an option in an open market.
“You either have the boards or you have the open market,” he said. “It is confusing to suggest there is a middle ground. It is a false option.”
However, Mark said his opposition to a key government policy does not jeopardize his position in the Conservative caucus or prompt him to consider leaving.
“I am here to represent my constituents and that’s what I tell my colleagues when they talk to me about this,” said Mark, who was first elected almost a decade ago.
