TODAY’S helping of publicity is seasoned with a dash of irony in the
dish that makes up Canadian Wheat Board controversy. If things go as
planned Oct. 31 in Lethbridge, Alta., several farmers will be
handcuffed and led to jail as they protest rules surrounding the wheat
board.
Charges against them stem from customs violations incurred in 1996,
when these farmers and others sold or donated grain to recipients in
the United States. They were charged, depending on circumstance, with
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either exporting wheat or barley without a permit or with removing
goods seized by Canada Customs.
Convictions resulted in fines, non-payment of which results in jail.
Having exhausted appeals in the ensuing seven years, the Lethbridge
group has chosen the latter option to make a point – that Western
Canadian farmers should have freedom to choose where and how to market
their grain.
In 1996, these farmers and a number of others in the prairie provinces
chose civil disobedience as a method of protest. World history is rife
with examples of such protest; cases where it led to change for the
better and where it led nowhere.
These farmers’ willingness to stand upon their principles despite the
consequences is laudable.
Their right to protest, on this issue or any other, is unquestionable.
But here’s where the dash of irony enters the stew. At the very time
these farmers are being incarcerated for attempts to change the system
from the outside, they also have an opportunity to effect change from
the inside – from within the board itself.
The CWB election for directors in the five odd-numbered districts is
now under way. Twenty-two candidates have been nominated, some of them
espousing the same directions as the Lethbridge group. Jail time
notwithstanding, these farmers share the same rights as others to
campaign and/or to vote for their chosen candidate.
The very fact that there is an election proves the situation has
changed since the events of 1996, and that protest was part of the
impetus for change.
The 2002 version of the wheat board is not the same as the 1996
version. The situation is not static.
Since 1998, 10 of the 15 CWB directors have been elected by farmers.
Changes to payment options and buyback provisions have been
implemented. Directors have tried to address oft-stated criticisms of
board secrecy and lack of communication.
Have those changes been enough to satisfy everyone? Clearly not, or the
Lethbridge protest group and those who share their views would by now
have ended their protest. The changes have, however, satisfied many.
The level of board support and the current makeup of the directorship
testify to that.
Ballots for the current CWB election are to be returned by Dec. 5.
Results are to be announced Dec. 15.
The election process is far less visible than the handcuffing and
jailing of farmers. It doesn’t pique the appetite in the same way as
this public protest.
In the end, though, it might yield a more satisfying dish for prairie
farmers.
