CWB makes gains
Re: CWB’s flexible delivery program expands choices for farmers – CWB newsletter, June 19. Wheat and barley producers are to be congratulated for their advocacy work undertaken through their Canadian Wheat Board.
The CWB’s e-mail newsletter of June 19 announced its new Delivery Exchange Contract pilot program. This is an exciting far-sighted development in the board’s way of doing business. The program enables the board to utilize Canada’s power as a sovereign country through its single desk selling while addressing the unique situations of individual producers.
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The board continues to grow its usefulness as an advocate for Western Canada’s wheat and barley growers, both as a group and individually.
That is a tangible remedy to the lack of producer power in the marketplace.
What if the board would be able to work with consumers and their direct advocates as well?ÊImagine what direct consumer-producer relationships would do for empowerment of producers, consumers and their subsequent ability to get more from the middle.
I believe this is entirely feasible and producers, through their CWB, are making significant progress to realizing that goal with this program.
– Mike Klein,
Calgary, Alta.
Prairie D-Day
June 6 was the anniversary of D-Day, a notable date on the calendar that commemorates Canada’s involvement in the liberation of Europe. In 1944, thousands of Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in an attempt to free Europe from oppression. Many Canadians were killed in action, all in the name of political ideology.
In Gravelbourg, D-Day 2006 was overshadowed by the sad news of the closure of its last elevator. Only days before the town is preparing for its 100th birthday, the Pioneer elevator closed its plant.
There were no protests, no angry farmers waving placards in the streets. Instead, local grain producer pondered in sadness on what was coming next.
There seems to be a great lack of logic in our Canadian society. During World War II, young boys from southern Saskatchewan were willing to die on the beaches of Normandy in order to fight Nazi oppression.
Today, their grandsons are fighting in Afghanistan against terrorism. A few have already
been killed.
And while I have deep admir-ation for these young people who fight for Canada, I can’t help but feel a tinge of shame for those of us who should be fighting, right here at home, protecting the very institutions our ancestors died for.
The closure of the last elevator, and the eventual termination of the rail line, almost always leads to the end of a community as we know it. …
Why are we willing to let our children die for a foreign nation, yet we watch our own communities wither away while we sit in total silence? We throw our hands up in the air and say: “it’s no use, it’s already been decided.”
Perhaps we need to go back to the drawing board, and reinvent the meaning of certain words
like society, freedom and democracy.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
Personal venting
Mr. Rob Brown’s The Moral Economy in the June 1 edition of the Western Producer starts out great on the requirement of good information in order to make good decisions. He goes on to allude as to being the right person to write about a good decision- making process by being older and wiser.
Mr. Brown then goes to a personal venting attack against Stephen Harper and the Conservative party. To aid his cause, he makes use of rhetoric like “Harper relies on American tactics and policies” and “as the Republican Party of Canada.”
As for his MP not replying, Mr. Brown must never have questioned anyone of cabinet responsibility in the past. I personally don’t agree either with the policy of most cabinet ministers of seldom answering inquiries. But that is reality and is even occasionally justified. Opposition MPs of course answer such inquiries due to no accountability and for political points.
Or is Mr. Brown just doing all this as an illustration of the numerous pitfalls to watch for in “information” provided by those wanting to sway public opinion? I think not.
A column promoting sound decision-making would be good but not if the main purpose is to validate Mr. Brown’s personal venting. Society already has too many individuals and organizations promoting their causes through the use of rhetoric and half-truths.
If this is the type of “informative” column Mr. Brown plans to continue doing, then its value is highly questionable. Such basics of good decision-making would be better left to reading the columns of Barry Wilson and Noel McNaughton.
– Ken Wasmuth,
Wainwright, Alta.
Three S
We’ve all heard what the three S’s mean to the United States – shoot, shovel and shut up.
Hopefully that mess will be buried once and for all, but I am talking about the way our Canadian government has been trying to help their farmers and ranchers stay viable on their land.
I, for one, believe our government has done one of the poorest jobs ever, again and again, with these programs that they claim put money into the farmer’s hands. Throw all these unsuccessful programs out with the gun registry, which has done nothing to prevent crime. Make it simple, sound and solid. …
All these complicated programs are causing more stress to farmers than the weather ever could. Mother Nature is the boss, but we have to wear the pants on the farms.
Give us an acreage payment and we will do what we do best, and that’s feed the world. Please stop dividing us into groups. It shouldn’t matter whether you have 1,000 acres or 10,000. It’s hard work.
I would like to encourage anybody, even a politician, to grow a nice garden, work hard, sweat lots, then give it all away for free in the fall. That’s basically what farmers have been doing for years. …
– Neville Wheeler,
Eyebrow, Sask.
Column appreciated
I am writing in regards to the last column written by the late Peter Griffiths, published in late March of this year.
I am sorry such a lot of time has elapsed since it appeared, but I did want everyone at the Western Producer and his family to know how sorry I was that he had died.
For many, many years his column in the Producer was a favourite of mine. I so much admired his wisdom and common sense. I felt that he was a lifeline particularly to a lot of isolated farm women, and he gave them hope for a better life.
Of course, it was not only women who wrote to him with their problems.
His last column was amazing; such courage in the face of a serious illness. I knew he had been ill. He had mentioned it some time ago but I thought he would just go on and on. So, I was shocked and saddened by his death. I felt as if I had lost a friend, even though I had never sought his advice.
To his family, I send my condolences and thanks to Peter for all his writing and his understanding of the human condition.
– Audrey M. Hodgson,
Edmonton, Alta.
Inflation culprit
Look at the price of farm fuel. Gas went up from 25 cents a gallon to $3.20 and the price of wheat is still the same. It was 56 years ago; look at the price of a pickup truck from $1,600 to $36,000 or more. …
Inflation is the culprit. The higher the inflation, the more money in GST is raked in and more strikes to help pay higher costs.
Maybe there should be a summit once a year between all unions, including farmers union, and the government finance minister and iron out what should be done to keep everyone afloat and nothing short of this will do. …
– John Pokorney,
Tilley, Alta.
