Herb Karst of Montana is the latest admirer of the Canadian Wheat Board, as he proclaims in the July 27 Western Producer.
Mr. Karst noted the Board serves Canadian farmers very well with its ability to “play the markets.”
He and I compete for markets. I and my Canadian neighbors share market returns, marketing skill, and pooling of prices through the CWB.
Mr. Karst points out that I am unable to share the domestic feed market price because it has been removed from the CWB pooling. “Maximizing my return” is thus hampered because of this anomaly. Special treatment has been given to a select few in the open market.
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Our objectives of “maximized returns” to all producers are not met because the open market has prevented the CWB from selling and pooling all domestic feed grain markets for this past year. Previously the CWB returned more than feed markets.
American farmers clearly would love to have pooled selling and CWB style marketing. If Mr. Karst himself could “predict the relative strength of the feed market this past winter” then perhaps we should hire him at the CWB and get a start on next year.
Be asking the CWB not to sell any kind of wheat for less than $4.50/bu. to the farmer. The higher the better. Let’s work together to get better prices and more crops under the CWB.
– Ian L. Robson,
Deleau, Man.
Spending facts
To the Editor:
In the letter of J. B. Forrest (Open Forum, July 27), the writer is concerned about the Fraser Institute’s publication of facts and figures on government spending. …
First of all the Fraser Institute, as well as provincial and national taxpayer’s associations, simply publish facts and figures they obtain from both provincial or federal governments through the Freedom of Information acts. These figures are available to any Canadian citizen who has the incentive and the resources to obtain them. …
No one likes to look at the truth in this case. Simply because what we believed and what was really happening are two worlds apart. No one likes to see a million dollars spent on office furniture in an office that didn’t exist. No one likes to hear about government automobiles or aircraft disappearing into thin air without a trace. No one likes to read about a government funded furniture factory that never purchased a piece of wood, that never owned a tool, much less manufactured furniture. But that is reality. It doesn’t make sense to anyone. …
It doesn’t make any sense simply because the end result is political motivation, and not sound economics. And that is why we don’t want to see the facts and figures behind all this. We want to believe that none of this really happened.
No one wants to face the fact that tax dollars that could have been used to educate children, or build highways and pave them, were used instead to construct an office that doesn’t exist or a factory that never produced, or whatever other expense government creates without accountability.
So what do we do? We re-elect the same people, the people that were the very cause of it all. We give them the same powers and the same funding as they demanded before. Then we, the public, do not have to face the pain of reality.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
Free ride
To the Editor:
Some 565,350 Canadians get a free ride in this country because they do not have to pay income, sales and various other taxes.
These involve privileges given to status Indians that should end immediately, particularly in light of the enormous entitlements this group also gets from taxpayers.
Here are their benefits:
They are exempt from provincial sales taxes. They do not have to pay personal income taxes.
Indians are exempt from excise, gasoline, alcohol and tobacco taxes.
They are also exempt from Customs duties, facilitating transport of goods across the border. Large volumes of goods are brought across the border that are not for personal use.
Indians make no contribution to our social services and enjoy the benefits.
Ottawa spent $5.39 billion of tax dollars in fiscal 1993-94 on everything from grants and programs for Indian housing, social development and health.
That amounts to $9,750 for every man, woman and child in one year. This is more than a large majority of our population realize …
The Indian people are intelligent and creative people and can do as well as any other nationality in a democratic society such as Canada’s …
– Anne Charles,
Kelowna, B.C.
Leave Bosnia
To the Editor:
Our Canadian government should have smartened up long ago and pulled our UN troops out of Bosnia.
We have heard so much praise about our peacekeeping contributions, the fact is we have never kept the peace.
While with the United Nation Forces, I served in Cyprus and Egypt.
The Turks invaded Cyprus when they wanted to. As I recall we suffered 11 casualties.
In Egypt, when the six-day war started, I had a very short time to catch the bus that took us to an airfield where we were airlifted to Canada.
The opposing forces just ignore us and start a war whenever they want.
In Cyprus the two opposing forces would start shooting at one another a short time before the UN mandate was to be signed. This would ensure the Cyprus economy could enjoy another six months of UN money being spent there.
Our once second-to-none Canadian Military Force has now degenerated so much it could not defend ten kilometers of our vast sea, land or air space.
Canada was caught without adequate military forces in two world wars – do we have to let it happen a third time?
When are Canadians ever going to learn?
Bring back our forces and build them up to a strong defence force.
All nature defends its territory. It would do our youth good to do a few years in the military.
The threat of dictatorship in Russia is almost a reality. Russia is still producing tanks and other war material and commands millions of military personnel; Germany has a huge arsenal and personnel; France, who we helped bail out in two wars, has built up her forces is now very cocky – then there is China.
This exists while the United States of America and Canada are reducing military forces.
– Fred R. Cameron,
Winnipeg, Man.
