Full knowledge
Re: Albert Wagner’s letter of Jan. 19.
Mr. Wagner doesn’t know me yet he feels compelled to judge me. Mr. Wagner says that I defend the Canadian Wheat Board because I’m trying to preserve my job.
My defence for the CWB stems not from the need for a job (I have worked elsewhere [and] am prepared to work elsewhere again), but because I believe that farmers have many advantages with the CWB. Should farmers choose to give up those advantages, then they should do so with full knowledge of what they currently have.
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Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
Mr. Wagner is correct when he says that government could change the powers of the CWB.
However, it is the position of the CWB board of directors that farmers should determine the future of their own marketing systems.
– Deanna Allen,
VP, Farmer Relations and Public Affairs,
Canadian Wheat Board,
Winnipeg, Man.
Gun sense
Re: Jan. 19 item by Alan Verpy.
Mr. Verpy’s article is a good example of the misconceptions that exist regarding gun regulations in our country.
Mr. Verpy says that safe storage regulations are good for us but his story demonstrates that no regulations are of any value if people don’t use common sense in storing and using firearms.
He obviously did not teach his 16-year-old son very much about the safe handling of a firearm if the rifle went off in the house. The boy was not taught about checking the firearm before using it. It was pointed in the wrong direction to begin with and how is it that he didn’t know the magazine was in the rifle? A simple visual check verifies that.
Mr. Verpy says: “If I’d only taken the clip out of the gun.” No amount of regulation is going to ensure that the Mr. Verpys of the world will take the clip out and store the rifle properly.
The whole registration and regulation does nothing for safety. Common sense and proper education are the key to safe firearm use.
– Marshall Grekul,
St. Paul, Alta.
Mennonite success
I really enjoyed the article in the Jan. 12 issue of the Western Producer regarding the Mennonite successes and entrepreneurship.
When I was employed as the part-time economic development officer for the town of Bow Island, Alta., I had the opportunity to meet with a group of Haldeman Mennonites from across Western Canada in August 1996.
After a series of meetings, the group decided that the Bow Island area would be a good place to live and work.
They have been, and still are an energetic group, starting new ventures here, purchasing farms and creating employment for many people.
Bow Island and area have benefited greatly as a result of having our Mennonite friends integrate into our community, and it will only get better.
– Fred Mellen,
Bow Island, Alta.
Dark shadows?
Re: “Finding rural economic success the Mennonite way” in the Jan. 12 paper. My background is Mennonite. I am not certain if the designation of Mennonite is predominately ethnic or religious but I no longer see anything honourable about it. The article has helped to clarify the reasons for my disillusionment.
Royden Loewen, chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg, makes a distinction between being a Mennonite and an evangelical Christian. I was led to believe that Mennonites were considered to be evangelical Christian. Ken Reddig, director of Winnipeg’s Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, thinks that the groups’ social commitment and economic prosperity today is based on a centuries-held theology that promotes work, creativity, humility and commitment.
As a long-time Mennonite, I thought that our theology was based on the God who has revealed himself to us in the Bible.
Some of the statements of these two prominent men in Mennonite Studies have helped clarify my understanding about Mennonites. The article states that Dutch anabaptists embraced the biblical views of Menno Simons. One should never embrace the Biblical view of any person; a Biblical viewpoint should be obtained directly from the Bible.
The article features several Bible verses. Mennonites do not live as close to Biblical principles as they profess to do. The strong work ethic that has led to success for many Mennonites is commendable but there are many dark shadows in Mennonite land.
Consider the experience of Miriam Toews, who spent her formative years in Steinbach. She is featured in “Rock and Holy Rollers” in the Nov. 1, 2004, Maclean’s. I quote from the article: “For Toews, the toughest contradiction of all concerns her father, Mel Toews, who committed suicide at 62 after suffering from bipolar disorder his entire adult life. Part of her still blames her dad’s death on what she calls ‘that freaky, austere’ town where he felt compelled to hide his mental illness out of shame.”…
We have experienced our own numerous dark shadows in our Mennonite connections. We are presently experiencing a very serious situation that has mushroomed into gigantic proportions. Our long-time membership with the Mennonite Brethren Church has proven to be of no value at all.
My numerous efforts to get the attention of someone in a Mennonite church have been fruitless. The situation involves mental illness; peoples’ lives have been devastated but no one cares.
There is no understanding at all of the Biblical command to “Love your neighbour as yourself” Ð Mark 12:31.
We have been betrayed by our denomination. Our experience has led us to no longer see anything admirable about that of being a Mennonite.
– Lillian Heichman,
Saskatoon, Sask.
Organic checkoff
The Organic Prairie Research Coalition has been developing a plan for over a year to influence or collect the check-off money that organic producers are now required by law to pay to conventional commissions.
The six OPRC directors in Saskatchewan are all organic farmers and bring with them a cross section of experience representing organic farmers in six regions of the province. They have agreed to serve as the interim board of the proposed Saskatchewan Organic Commission.
As chair of this interim board, I want to reassure conventional and organic farmers about the fact that the SOC board respects the status of current commissions. We know we will all get the most for our money when we work together and SOC intends to work out agreements with other commissions whenever possible.
We are aware of at least a couple of conventional commission research projects that are valued by organic farmers that we anticipate will continue to be supported by organic farmers through the SOC. Please note that our ballot indicates that if exemptions cannot be negotiated with conventional agencies, there will be no doubling of checkoffs. SOC would advise producers to apply for their refunds where possible, or a zero-rated checkoff would be charged by SOC on those commodities where an exemption had not yet been agreed upon. Furthermore, any checkoffs collected by SOC will be refundable.
Our goal is to advance organic production research in balance with market developments in a way that will benefit both organic and conventional farmers. SOC will be controlled by Saskatchewan organic farmers for the benefit of organic farmers but we will always look for opportunities to co-operate on projects that will be beneficial to all farmers.
– Bob Willick,
SOC interim board of directors,
Blaine Lake, Sask.
No Martin fan
Re: 2005 last edition and Paul Martin: I enjoyed the last edition for 2005. A pleasant change in articles (but) I do not believe the article on the virtues of Paul Martin.
As finance minister under Jean Chrétien, he balanced the budget by cutting off health-care payments to the provinces, not by fiscal good management.
The balanced budgets have continued as a result of huge taxes on fuels. The graft and corruption have continued unabated…
– William Mansell,
Inglis, Man.
Tax havens
Canadians have voted for change. Will that change include closing tax loopholes that are available to the very rich?
For several years now, Canada’s auditor general has expressed concern over the disastrous effects of certain tax provisions and of the tax agreements between Canada and other countries throughout the world, which allow for the use of tax havens.
It is known that in the 1990s, just one prominent wealthy Canadian family transferred a $2 billion family trust to the United States and successfully avoided paying about $700 million in taxes.
The 1996 report of Canada’s auditor general included the following observation: “We have observed two advance rulings relating to moving at least $2 billion of assets held in family trusts into the United States from Canada. In our view, the transactions ruled on may have circumvented the intent of the law regarding the taxation of capital gains.
“Therefore, we are concerned that Revenue Canada may have eroded the tax base by forfeiting a legitimate future claim to many millions of dollars in tax revenue.”
Ten years have elapsed, but the laws allowing the very rich to use tax havens have not been changed. Can it be that the MPs we have been electing to govern us felt that they are acting in our best interests by allowing the tax loopholes to remain, so that ordinary Canadians have to pay more than they should in taxes?
Or is it because the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, which is a lobby group in Ottawa comprising about 150 executives of major Canadian corporations that act as a kind of shadow cabinet, have more influence on federal legislation than our elected MPs?
– William Dascavich,
Edmonton, Alta.
Uncashed cheques
Re: “CWB invests in China,” WP, Jan. 12.
I strongly feel cheques should find their way back to the producer or their families, for their choice of dispersal – the Canadian Wheat Board knowing full well this is long awaited, hard-earned money.
It is surprising at the amount of uncashed cheques. Is it possible, after payments and final payments to producers are so slow in coming, that just maybe some producers go bankrupt in the meantime, or perhaps are deceased by the time their cheques arrive?
I am also concerned some farmers may lose their membership in CWB due to their size of acres or amount of money they make.
Is the CWB looking for less opposition to their monopoly?
– Joseph Rosenberger,
Fort Vermilion, Alta.
Tax revolt
The (Saskatchewan) rural municipalities that are holding back the education tax on agriculture property are not doing so because they have an issue with the school boards.
We also appreciate our responsibility to make sure our youth receive the best education possible. The issue that precipitated this action is the totally inequitable burden of education tax on agriculture.
Here are the events that caused us to take such drastic action. First the government gave an eight percent discount on all property, but didn’t back fill that short fall to the school boards.
Then the same government settled on a new contract with teachers. Again the school boards have an increase in their costs.
Lastly, the foundation grant (the money school boards receive from the government) was cut by $300,000. The only way the school boards can balance their budget is to raise the taxes by 30 percent.
As a result, a producer in this area now pays about six times as much education tax in Saskatchewan as they do on their property in Manitoba. The only difference is the political will in Manitoba to make the tax burden as fair as possible on their rural population.
The method of funding education on property in Saskatchewan is regressive, oppressive and discriminatory. No wonder Saskatchewan is lagging behind the rest of the country in reaching its economic potential. What message are we sending our children? That it’s all right for a government to discriminate against any sector of society, just because that sector makes up a large portion of the voting population.
In a representative democracy, all governments have a moral obligation to distribute the burden of taxation fairly and equitably among all of the taxpayers.
Yes this action is outside the law. But when a law no longer meets the needs of all the population, it needs to be changed.
After 40 or more years of talk, with no effective solution, all that is left for free thinking people is civil disobedience.
– Glenn R. Blakley,
Tantallon, Sask.
Narrow perspective
Re: “Farmers favour Conservatives,” WP Jan. 19.
” ‘Despite record Liberal government farm support payments … farmers have increased their overwhelming support for the Conservative party,’ says pollster Ipsos Reid.”
This observation reveals a narrow, shortsighted perspective on government support and the values prevalent in rural Canada. There is more to it than simply “how much do I get out of this?” Consider these facts:
1. A billion dollar farm aid initiative appears generous to the public, but how much of that does not reach the farmgate because it goes to pay the bureaucrats who design, administer and deliver the program? 30 percent? 40 percent? 50 percent? The more complicated the design, the larger the number of bureaucrats.
2. The Liberals under Chrétien and Martin have been at the centre of outright criminal activity in regard to the Adscam affair. Ordinary citizens, including western farmers who try to sell their own grain without the wheat board’s blessing, would be drawing sentences of heavy fines, prison terms or both, but how many Liberals have been charged for their misappropriation of public monies?
The sheer waste and ineffectiveness of programs like the gun registry only widens the gap between the Liberals and the real world regarding fiscal responsibility.
3. The moral values of Canadians in general and rural Canada in particular have been snubbed and violated. Relying on the prime minister-appointed Supreme Court to do their dirty work for them, the Chrétien-Martin regimes have ended democratic rule in Canada and undermined family values.
Legalized abortion, swinger’s clubs and same-sex marriage, tax laws discriminating against one income families and the Hate Crime Bill C 250 with its inevitable consequence of religious persecution are a few examples.
The federal government of the past 12 years has also forced Liberal caucus members to support the party line rather than their constituents.
It is not an entitlement mentality which motivates the rural vote. Perhaps Ipsos Reid needs a broader inquiry to understand why.
– Cyril Anderst,
Hilda, Alta.
CCIA tags
Twenty months ago my cattle were tagged with the new mandatory electronic ID tags.
Last week I took five cull cows to a slaughter plant. The inspector insisted I retag them before slaughter. There was only one tag left on the cows.
This, under my mathematics, is a tag life of four months on average. As far as I can see these tags are worse junk than the dangle tags that we were previously forced to use. The previous tags were unreadable, but we had to continue to use them. There were more ripped ears and missing tags then ears with tags.
I have informed the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency of the shortcomings of both of these tags. These tags are made in the United States and CCIA gets a rakeoff on the purchase price.
Could we not have something made in Canada? Why do government parasites have to get a share of everything we produce?
Our cattle have sold for fire sale prices for two and a half years while meat packers have sold the meat for the same price as before.
A floor price on the rail at the packing plant tied to the U.S. price would have given the cattlemen a fair price and prevented all the financial woes.
How much support did packers contribute to our federal political party? They are spending millions to tell us how wonderful they are, and will spend billions more on hare-brained schemes.
I hope the voters can see that Canada’s resources are being sold only for the benefit of U.S. corporations and dishonest and incompetent politicians. How long will it be before we are stripped bare of all our resources?
– William Mansell,
Inglis, Man.
In hindsight
Re: Fuel spiral, yes we are very much hurting with the high price of fuel and fertilizer now, but I wish a lot of farmers that are hurting over these huge prices would think back a few years ago.
Remember a man that was working for Focus on Sabbatical? Just think if it was in place now.
A lot of farmers laughed at such a stupid idea back then, but just think how much less fuel and fertilizer you would have to be using now. The grain farmer would now be in complete control.
So those of you who laughed then, I think now Ken Goudy was right. It would have worked and there would be no huge surplus of grain and cheap grain prices.
The next time a good idea like Focus on Sabbatical is there, take advantage of it before it is too late for all the family farms, if it isn’t already.
– Ken Fordice,
Galahad, Alta.
Convenient morality
Now that the election is over, many people are expecting a higher level of morality from our governments. I agree with this expectation. However, not everyone has the same understanding as to what morality includes.
In general, the Conservatives and the religious right supporters have been the most supportive of the U.S. led invasion into Afghanistan and Iraq.
I have heard the caution “be careful not to criticize the U.S. because we need them to buy our beef and lumber. If we get them mad, they will be harder to deal with.”
This caution raises the question: is your determination of what you will condemn or take part in based on self interest or a real interest in morality?
What does it say about our morality if we only express moral outrage when it will not affect us negatively?
While I also oppose Canada’s participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq war. I wish to concentrate on the use of depleted uranium in these wars. When a depleted uranium shell hits its target, tiny filings scrape off the shells. These filing are radioactive with a half-life of five million years.
We have polluted the homeland of millions of people for millions of years into the future. …
Is it possible that these civilizations will be wiped out? What will our lot be when the trade winds pick up these radioactive particles and drop them on our country?
Who will listen to your moral outrage when someone in your family has a medical problem relating to depleted uranium?
Maybe the expression “sow the wind and reap the whirlwind” will be applied to us.
– Laverne Isaac,
Medstead, Sask.
