Letters to the editor

Magic wand

The barley plebiscite is over and the results are in. As many farmers likely know, the results are as follows: Option 1, CWB only, 38 percent; Option 2, dual market, 48 percent; Option 3, open market only, 14 percent.

Strahl has waved his magic wand and has come to the conclusion that 62 percent, (48 plus 14) want the open market in one form or another and this percentage he cannot ignore so in August he plans to remove the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on barley.

But 86 percent (38 plus 48), of farmers voted to have the CWB involved in one form or another. Not bad for an organization that was forbidden to campaign or to defend itself in any way.

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This largest percentage of them all, Strahl has chosen to ignore. He also is ignoring the fact the votes for CWB only (38 percent) outnumber the votes for open market only (14 percent) by a margin of nearly three to one.

This is exactly what happens when a dual market option is included on the ballot. It can be interpreted almost any way you want. But even Strahl’s magic wand cannot make the obvious disappear.

Do farmers deserve a vote on the fate of barley? Absolutely, but they also deserve a fair and open debate on the issue and a clear and concise question on the ballot. This they were denied.

In all fairness, these facts leave the Harper government with nothing to crow about and furthermore, it reveals their true agenda, namely to get rid of the CWB even if it is in a deceitful and undemocratic fashion.

– Don Bamber,

Oyen, Alta.

Buy a donkey

Re: Gopher solution, provide every farmer with a donkey and import some coyotes. Donkeys hate critters with pointed ears and attack them. Coyotes hunt and eat mice and gophers.

We discovered this by accident. The purpose of having the donkey was to keep the grass down around the buildings but he served a dual purpose as no coyotes came in the yard when he was on patrol.

The coyotes came free with the land. We watch them catching critters in the field. We have no gophers. They live down the road.

Now we have to solve the mole problem.

– Frank Kurta,

Rimbey, Alta.

CFA clarifies

I would like to provide a clarification on the position of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and its decision not to sign on to the Cairns farm leaders’ communiqué.

The position of the CFA was not accurately reflected in last week’s article, “Canada dissents on Cairns market access plan” (WP, April 26).

In representing all of Canadian agriculture, all regions and commodity sectors, CFA had two major problems with the communiqué drafted by the other Cairns farm leaders.

Firstly, the communiqué did not go far enough on the key issue of domestic support. High subsidies in the United States have created serious impediments for Canadian producers. As well, on market access, the communiqué did not talk about the importance of flexibility in the sensitive product category to ensure aggressive market access improvements in the tiered formula reduction category.

If those categories are used for their intended purpose, Canada could achieve significant market access improvements while ensuring that supply management is not undermined. That is what we are working towards: a win-win for all sectors of Canadian agriculture.

This is also what the government is trying to achieve in representing all of agriculture, and also why they could not agree to all of the views in the Cairns ministers’ declaration.

The Cairns farm leaders’ communiqué fell far short of what is needed for all sectors of Canadian agriculture, domestic and export. The CFA recognized that and declined to sign, in the interests of all Canadian producers.

– Bob Friesen,

CFA President,

Ottawa, Ont.

Fat cats

Tommy Douglas on many occasions told the story of Mouseland, in which the voters – the mice, the majority, 95 percent – kept voting for the cats, five percent, (a) very rich minority who focus on themselves and their personal profits as a priority over the good and well being of the mice.

In a speech on Feb. 11, 2006, the leader of the Saskatchewan Party added his perspective to the story of Mouseland. During his speech (he) described the mice with this quote: “They’re not exactly the most productive species in the animal kingdom. In fact they don’t really produce anything except droppings.” He went on later to say, “when given a clear choice between cats and mice, who would choose a mouse? We’ve got to get us some cats.”

Brad Wall obviously thinks of himself as a cat. In Tommy Douglas’s story, he said, “now the cats were nice fellows and passed good laws. … All the laws were good laws for the cats.”

Is this how the Sask Party views the people of Saskatchewan, as unproductive and only good for leaving droppings? One must ask what is the Sask Party’s real agenda when they make these type of comments and they are also fundraising in Alberta with rich business fat cats.

The Sask Party also seems to be OK with allowing their Conservative cousins in Ottawa to line their bank accounts with the non-renewable resource revenues from the Saskatchewan people. …What is the Sask Party’s true agenda … ?

– Ron Blocka,

Leoville, Sask.

Good investment

I believe my partner’s subscription to the Western Producer is one of the best investments he has made. … I read it from cover to cover, paying attention to the Open Forum.

What better way to keep informed about rural Canada?

What really motivated me to write though, was the photo on page 5, April 19, of Mike Hendricks reaching to help a calf with one hand while holding a hockey stick in the other.

We all know how agitated those mamas can be when you mess with their young and it is wise to have some protection when doing so. What could be more Canadian than a hockey stick?

Maybe the WP could run a contest, “How many ways can a farmer use a hockey stick?”

Also, regarding George Campbell’s column on page 7, George should tell his dad that “it is the second mouse to the trap that gets the cheese.”

– Irene Lovell,

Rimbey, Alta.

GST and accrual

The numerous letters about the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program and the bureaucracy it has created could be simplified.

The GST system could be used to have a margin-based program self-administered and on the accrual basis, ignoring unsalable inventories, which eventually enter the system when marketed.

Farm sales are generally zero rated as are inputs like fertilizer, herbicides and other items not of a capital nature. Fuel and utilities would be excluded to encourage conservation.

If the zero rated items were assigned a two percent rate and the farmer submitted the net two percent to a self administered margin savings program in before-tax dollars, the bureaucrats could get meaningful and productive work.

The two percent net margin would generate a NISA type (Net Income Stabilization Account) and have a running average and a chart showing the farmers their margin and contributions would be made when the margin was positive and drawn down when the expenses caused cash flows to reverse the upward trend in contributions.

This whole farm margin account could then receive matching government funding to restore the farmer to his trend line, much like the NISA matching deposit.

The GST bureaucracy could administer this account and the CAIS people could buy farms and actually produce something.

– Tom Cliff,

Thorsby, Alta.

School info

I am looking for information on the names of schools which existed along the line from Frontier, Climax, Canuck, Bracken, and Orkney, Sask.

I would like to hear stories from people who have memories of these one-room schools. Information desired is the name of the school, where located and perhaps what happened to it, the years the school operated, who were the teachers, what students attended and when.

This project is in hope of preserving these memories for others to enjoy. This information will eventually be placed with the local museums and the Saskatchewan archives. Also of interest to me are the small forgotten cemeteries. Any information you have will be a small piece of the bigger story.

Schools and cemeteries are two small slices of history in our area which I would like to see preserved for future generations.