Letters to the editor

Paid hunting

Once again the specter of paid hunting, or paying for access to hunt on privately owned lands, is raising its ugly head in Alberta, and particularly southern Alberta.

This paid hunting fiasco is being promoted under the guise that (it) will magically increase the numbers of wildlife and that landowners will provide more and better habitat for wildlife.

If there is any validity to these claims, they are greatly exaggerated by those self interest groups who are trying to make money by selling opportunities to hunt publicly owned wildlife. Any claim that landowners should benefit from selling wildlife is totally unacceptable.

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Producers face the reality of shifting grain price expectations

Significant price shifts have occurred in various grains as compared to what was expected at the beginning of the calendar year. Crop insurance prices can be used as a base for the changes.

Landowners can be compensated for any wildlife damage to their property. Many of these landowners complain about damage they suffer but still will not allow hunting access on their property….

Under this new and also old philosophy of paid hunting under the Open Spaces Pilot program, and the Land and Wildlife Stewardship Working Group,”landowners are to be rewarded for wildlife production, habitat stewardship and providing access for wildlife related and other nature related activities.”

They claim this program aims to recognize the contributions of landowners for wildlife and habitat stewardship in tangible ways (and) will increase and enhance equitable public opportunities and access for hunting, fishing and nature related recreation.

This really means paid hunting, paid fishing and paid camping.

A serious evaluation of these aims can only conclude that the experiences in the United States, and Utah specifically, which are providing a huge financial benefit to large corporate landowners, should not be implemented in southern Alberta. These large corporate ranches and farms will reap a huge financial gain at the expense of ordinary hunting, fishing and camping people. Alberta Wildlife and our great outdoors should not be for sale….

If we can believe our secretive and non-transparent politicians that their program is only a proposal, now is the time for Albertans to let the government know that paid hunting in Alberta with all its repulsive aspects is not acceptable. …

– Burnell Bennett,

Taber, Alta.

Safe practices

In your Dec. 6, 2007 issue you ran an article outlining the accident risks on farms. The article indicated that the highest risk groups were preschoolers and teens, particularly boys.

The data indicated that during the study there were 96 fatalities and 471 hospitalizations in children aged 0-4 in farm related accidents.

In light of this article I was very shocked by the picture you ran in your Jan. 10, 2008 issue. A 21 month old boy was toddling along in front of a horse, leading his sister while the riding instructor stood by.

I am sure that any experienced horseman would agree that no matter how well trained an animal is, they are still an animal and never 100 percent predictable.

As responsible adults it is our job to keep our children safe, and as your article stated “show the children what’s dangerous.” Little tots need to be taught from day one how to safely behave around animals and machinery.

As a riding instructor and a mother of a two-year-old boy, toddling along in front of a horse does not fall within my idea of safe practices.

– Tamara Taylor,

Caroline, Alta.

Packer power

With the technique of amalgamation and consolidation, the packers have, through their so-called free open market, a stranglehold on producers of livestock.

Packer power has grown since BSE has sprung the trap on farmers who have overdependence on exports. During the crisis, dominant packers have taken over ownership and control of most of the cattle in the feedlots. They now have a captive supply through which they have effective controls of the price for farmers.

The packers now use contracts to control cattle on feed. As auction mart prices rise, packers draw from their captive supplies, absent from the market forcing prices down. This ownership creates no competition in packing and complete anti-competitive power to force down prices.

At the same time farmers are fed propaganda through the media that the dollar lowers prices and they must become more competitive and efficient in the free open market that gives them freedom to choose whomever they wish to sell their produce.

This is called by the industry “decoupling the market” that proposes that farmers should be placed on welfare and be paid from the taxpayers’ pocket. They advocate farmers should provide their own welfare by working off the farm, while they themselves reap the benefits.

Poultry, dairy and wheat farmers should be wary of this freedom jingo as the corporations would dearly love to decouple the market and contract buy with no disclosed market price. The only thing standing in their way of this quest for controls is the Canadian Wheat Board and supply managed marketing….

Clearly the only solution is a North America wide livestock marketing board run by farmers for farmers.

If all farmers could stick together and inform their National Farmers Union and counterparts in the U.S. to go ahead, set up a farmer controlled marketing board informing the industry that no one will get any more livestock unless they pay the required proper price, farmers could have their needed parity price tomorrow morning.

Until they do so, they will continue to be economic slaves to the multinationals and their free open market.

Unless marketing boards are re-established with farmer control, this status quo will continue because of the ownership of the free open market by the multinationals.

For the sake of our children’s future we must have the fortitude to do the right thing.

– R. E. Kennedy,

Simpson, Sask.

Out of arguments

Recently David Anderson, MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands, stated that it is the Canadian Wheat Board’s centrally controlled marketing that has driven farmers off the land, stifled innovation and limited opportunity.

It would appear that he is now running out of logical arguments to bash the CWB.

In Mr. Anderson’s world, the open market is providing “benefits” for farmers in domestic feed barley, flax, canola, peas, oats, canaryseed, lentils and alfalfa seed. If these benefits existed, you would think no one would care to grow CWB-marketed crops.

But they do.

Mr. Anderson likes to quote regularly on pricing in U.S. grain markets, where incidentally there is no centrally controlled marketing agency for grains, but he faithfully fails to mention U.S. farmers receive assistance from their federal government in the form of farm subsidies, year in and year out – just to top off the open market “benefits,” I guess!

The problem with Mr. Anderson’s stripe is that he forgets the Canadian government in 1998 turned over the leadership of the CWB to farmers. And now his government wants to turn it back to the grain trade!

Remember, Mr. Anderson: the latest poll showed approximately 68 percent of Canadian do not support your government.

– Harold Blodgett,

Abbey, Sask.

Serial killers

According to Michael Mowchenko, (Open Forum, Jan. 17) it’s OK for Robert Pickton to murder all those women because he had a miserable childhood.

And then he goes on to question the reason these victims turned to prostitution. Maybe they had a poor childhood too?

There are millions of people who have had less than an ideal life but does that give them the right to become a serial killer?…

Instead of killing these women, maybe Pickton could have been donating money to programs to help get prostitutes rehabilitated if it was their lifestyle he didn’t approve of.

Mr. Mowchenko obviously has a problem with prostitution also, perhaps he could donate to the various programs in Saskatoon that work to help get “working girls” off the streets and into a healthier lifestyle instead of judging them….

– Elaine Sloan,

Busby, Alta.

Half-truths

It was interesting reading Charles Anderson’s rant (Open Forum, Jan. 17) “Wants choice.”

He mentions democratic process and 62 percent of producers wanting choice in the barley plebiscite. The 62 percent figure is very misleading, when there were three choices on the ballot. Then the government of the day adds two choices together to get the results that the government wanted.

Funny the 62 percent that Charles quotes is also quoted by Gerry Ritz and David Anderson time and time again. Tell a half-truth over and over again (and) there is a chance that they hope it will become the truth.

Charles also quotes John DePape, owner of Integrated Malt Barley Management Ltd. Who pays DePape’s salary? Is it farmers who broker their grain through his company or are his wages paid by malting companies?

In both cases you can see why he wants the Canadian Wheat Board out of the barley marketing, so he can make more money.

I’ve farmed for 31 years and have relatives in the United States who farm and we have checked quotes on the U.S. grain exchanges and then their elevators and wondered why the price is higher in the elevator compared to the exchange.

The elevator manager will tell us time and time again (that) when there is no or very little supply, we can put any price up on the board to make things look good.

John DePape verbally attacks Richard Gray’s assumption and figures. As a farmer I would tend to believe Mr. Gray before even taking Mr. DePape’s figures with a grain of salt.

– David Bailey,

Glaslyn, Sask.

No more waiting

The barley industry cannot afford to wait any longer to free up marketing opportunities for barley. The CWB has developed CashPlus as their answer for marketing choice and what a sad attempt it is.

Contrary to what the CWB would have us believe, it does not offer full price transparency, (which) means that any producer marketing malt barley would know the actual price of the barley they are selling.

CashPlus offers no more than what the present malt barley pool accounts offer now. The malt companies can contract with malt barley producers but only offer a price set by the CWB.

The difference between contract price and the confidential price the malt companies are charged by the CWB is put into a pre-harvest pooled account. This price will not be public knowledge for the producer.

I question what is different? There is an initial payment offered under the malt company contract and a final payment paid out of the pre-harvest pool sometime in the future? Who would want to sign a production contract without knowing the selling price of the commodity they are contracting?

Price transparency means full cash price disclosure to the producer at point of sale, something that the CWB does not seem to understand. CashPlus is nothing more than another pooled account controlled under a monopoly marketing system and fails miserably to meet the needs of the barley industry.

The CWB thinks that they have to protect producers from the malt companies whom they believe would pit producer against producer in a bidding war to drive the price of malt barley down.

This is an insult to barley producers. We market canola, the second largest crop grown in Western Canada, without their protection. We are able to market oats, peas, flax, lentils, yellow mustard and a variety of other crops, without their protection. Barley is no different. …

Producers are working on this spring’s cropping plans now and need price transparent signals from the malt industry if they are going to consider including malt barley in their rotations. …

– Brian Otto,

Warner, Alta.

Latimer & parole

Here are my thoughts on the National Parole Board refusing to grant Robert Latimer parole.

The reasons given were that he didn’t show remorse or repent, saying he was sorry he had killed his daughter.

Their arguments are weak, stupid and childish without thought. The man killed his daughter, whatever mindset he has to use because he has to live the rest of his life with what he did. What he did was wrong, but no one should be too judgmental until they walk in the other person’s shoes.

Who is being punished here, anyway? For the last seven years Latimer has been laying around in a jail cell. For the last seven years the taxpayers have had to pay the bills to keep him there. For the last seven years his wife has had no comfort or support from her husband. For the last seven years his children have grown up without a father.

This is not right. Who is being punished? What are we as a society doing? We have punished the family a lot more than we have punished Latimer. When is enough, enough?

The system and society have failed the Latimers. The medical profession couldn’t help Tracey. Society has made an example of Robert Latimer. … (It has) imposed hardship and suffering on the family. For the family, this is a miscarriage of justice. They have done nothing wrong yet they have suffered the most.

This is enough. He has put in seven years. He is a threat to no one. Let him go home.

– Victor Hult,

Waseca, Sask.

Exploitation

I sold some grain to the CWB about two months ago. Then about two weeks ago the CWB deposited a substantial amount of money to my bank account by direct deposit.

If I had sold this grain outside of the CWB, I would not have received this payment. Who do you suppose would have benefited: Mr. Anderson, Mr. Ritz or Mr. Harper?

Did we not elect these people to govern our affairs in this country to our benefit? But on the other hand, it looks like this federal government is in place to exploit us. They are working very diligently to remove the CWB from us.

Just look at the great benefits we receive through the CWB. Do these elected representatives think we can’t add? Do they think we are stupid? It wouldn’t be nice for us to suggest that they are stupid, now would it? Let’s just say that it looks that way.

Let us take a look into the price of oil and the price of gasoline and diesel fuel. I have never heard one politician in this country say that the price of fuel is too high. No, because we, the people, pay for their travel expenses and we have no recourse.

How would it be if we were to open the gates of our penitentiaries and let the inmates out to make room for politicians who are exploiting the electorate? The federal government is still collecting GST, raking in big dollars which they don’t know how or where to spend.

We have manufacturers who are making electric cars that produce no carbon monoxide and would be very satisfactory to operate in our urban centres, but the government evidently keeps changing the safety rules so these cars cannot be sold here in Canada, but they can be sold in the U.S.

So what can we say? Should we vote for the same people to exploit us, or should we vote for others who can do a better job of exploitation?

– Melvin Lindors,

Shaunavon, Sask.

No legs

I have been reading and listening with great interest the ongoing saga regarding the choice of barley marketing in Western Canada.

The latest is now what the CWB is calling the CashPlus program, a program that they claim to have consulted with farmers across the region to help with designing. 

If this is fact, then why is the program being met with so much skepticism? I know for a fact that nobody contacted me from the CWB even though I have a phone number as well as e-mail in the CWB system.

I also didn’t hear of any meetings that may have occurred regarding this program. I have talked with numerous other producers in my area and no one can recall being consulted. It is when the CWB makes claims like this, supposedly on my behalf, that I get really disgusted with them. 

I would like to know where a person can join this little consulting group as I would like to add my actual opinion to this debate.

In my experience it doesn’t seem to matter what you ask the CWB, they will always have an answer and just won’t listen to what producers really have to say. …

When the CWB actually starts listening to all participants in the grain industry, and stops the “their way or no way” attitude, maybe then their programs would be more successful.

All I can say to the CWB is go ahead and keep shooting yourself in the foot and when that one is gone, start on the other one because soon you won’t have any legs to stand on. 

– Bernie de Beaudrap,

Trochu, Alta.

Train wrecks

There has to be a reason for so many train wrecks. That’s all we’ve heard for the last few years.

This last fall when we were coming back from the Prairies, I happened to see, not far off Highway 16, a railway crew working on the tracks.

My curiosity got the best of me. I stopped and walked over. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the ties they were removing. Many looked like Swiss cheese.

There was not one of the ties that could have held a spike for the last 10 years. It really got me thinking, if the main line looks like this, what do the branch lines look like?

When I see maintenance like this I immediately think of the McBride trestle, which collapsed a couple of years ago, and all the derailments we hear about on a regular basis.

When you can walk down the tracks and pick up spikes that have popped out of the ties, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you we are 10-15 years behind in our maintenance.

At the end of each year we read about the windfall profits the railway companies make. This is a real nice way to drive one of those rusty old spikes into the hearts of taxpayers. Please don’t ask me to ride on any of these lines, not even for free.

– Jim Szasz,

Ladysmith, B.C.

Destructive party

Why are the western Canadian Conservatives determined to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board and the Canadian Grain Commission?

This would put Canadian agriculture on the same playing field as agriculture in the Ukraine. In the Ukraine all agricultural commodities trade through European and other transnational corporations.

(In) the discussion “choice matters” (it) is clear that corporations want more price control to farmers, not to mention profits to corporations….

I have been asking myself where will Canadian farmers in agriculture have market power and justice under the Conservative government? When we as farmers let go of our sovereignty, we let go of our future.

– Harvey R. Thomas,

Alliance, Alta.