Rally

[grassfarmer]

Just a heads up that we are organising a rally in Edmonton next week. A delegation led by Alberta NFU organiser Jan Slomp will go to the Legislature and hopefully meet with the Minister of Agriculture as well as opposition MLAs. We will present them with a list of problems facing the industry that require action from the Alberta Government. We are not content to wait for a border opening that will solve few of the underlying problems. It is clear that ABP is a joke and refuses to fight the corner for Alberta producers - the concencus (sp?) out of the ABP meetings this week was that cow/calf producers have no reason to complain - all is good for them. We want at least 100 farmers present to attract media attention but we should really have 1000 there.10 O'clock next Thursday morning - please spread the word and motivate your neighbours.

[magpie]

Just a suggestion, why don't you contact Bowes Publishing, they publish most of the newspapers in rural AB., and get them to do a story in it.
Also the Edmonton Journal and Sun would likely do a news item, and 630 Ched will certainly do an interview with whomever is organizing the delegation.

[PureCountry]

grassfarmer, I'm definitely interested. Call me anytime, 780-888-3791. I'd like to talk to you about this rally. I'll spread the word wherever I can.

[wd40]

Grassfarmer - Send this message to the politicians - Tell the govt. "Thanks for the fish but we need a fishing rod."

[grassfarmer]

We intend to and we'll tell them exactly the kind of tackle we need to land the fish!

[grassfarmer]

Is anyone else coming out to support us though? It's awfully quiet here - what's the problem? are producers not really suffering financially? are they all too apathetic when it actually comes to doing something? All talk and no action? Did I mention the letters N.F.U (damn! I forgot that meant communist in Alberta)
This is a group of primary producers from across the board that feel our voice is not being heard through ABP or CCA so we have a chance of direct contact with Government. Please don't let another opportunity pass off without doing something.

[ivbinconned]

Just wondering here if you have given enough lead time to do this? Forgive me if I missed it but one week is short notice.

Numbers are really important when doing this and with enough lead time all industrie sectors that have been impacted might be encouraged to participate.

[grassfarmer]

Maybe so, it's been put together in a hurry to get done before everything shuts down for Christmas. In truth how much difference does a week versus 3 weeks make? If people are hurting as much as we imagine they are they would soon decide whether to attend or not.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, if you have a good group organizing the rally with a fan out system in place to get people there, hopefully you will have a good turn out. Unfortunately it won't have much of an impact if only a handful of people show up, because the powers that be will think that only a few people are having a difficult time.
Good luck !

[farmers_son]

Grassfarmer: A word of caution if I may. What do you hope to gain by associating yourself and your group with the NFU when approaching the Alberta provincial government? I think it is fair to say the NFU has zero influence with the PCs in Alberta. It is not in beef producers best interests to marginalize themselves with the province. The election is over, we know who is firmly in control of the Alberta Treasury. As such any rallies in Edmonton should be structured to garner the support of the government for beef producers plight rather than garner support for the NFU from disenfranchised beef producers who are dissatisfied with the pace of change.

Although you have not included in your post the list of problems you intend to present to government, for the most part I would think government is aware of them. What you might hope to achieve is attention from the media but we need to be careful that media attention is positive for our industry. I have seen the media attention the Quebec producers drum up in Ottawa but we should realize those rallies and events were staged by a very professional organization. Those events were very coordinated, organized, prepared. They had speakers ready to be interviewed by the media with a consistent message for government. Sure there was some dramatic tactics used as media hooks but no one should assume for a minute those rallies were staged by your average Joe. Although that may have been the impression, that was not the reality.

Grassfarmer, you are an intelligent person. This is the time for a reasoned, measured, targetted response from producers. There are better ways to raise your concerns than to associate yourself with the NFU.

[grassfarmer]

Thank you for your usual thoughtfull reply farmers_son, I agree particularily with your analysis of the Quebec protests.
Where you really misunderstand me is when you dismiss the NFU as some type of lunatic organisation to be avoided like the plague. I came to this country with no prior involvement with a farmers union, the Scottish one was useless - kind of like ABP. On examination the NFU in Canada, although insignificant numerically, stands up for the values I believe in - supporting the family farm accross all sectors through reasoned research and policy documents presented to Government. Although numerically small the members of the Union have been punching far above their weight in this crisis, assisting the Beef Initiative Group meetings by ensuring good turnouts at some of their meetings, being involved in promoting attendance and good candidates standing in ABP producer meetings as well as being invited to meet with the Alberta Ag minister on a regular basis for the first time. They have also been acting as a go between for individuals trying to set up the new slaughter plants in an effort to help these plants get built. None of this is funded by producer checkoff and unlike the ABP they do not have a $12 million budget of producer money to squander.
I'm proud to say I am a member and support the organisation 100% - if people don't like that or label me a lunatic so be it. If you or anyone else does not support mobilising primary producers to fight their corner in a desperate situation because you belong to a different clique or group - shame on you , that is why producers get walked all over time and again. It's time to smarten up and get over these petty differences if we are to improve our lot. This rally is about primary producers getting on their feet and speaking directly to Government and the media - if it fails because of redneck perceptions of anything containing the word "union" I will be very dissapointed in this great Province I have made my home in.

[ivbinconned]

"Where you really misunderstand me is when you dismiss the NFU as some type of lunatic organisation to be avoided like the plague."

" if people don't like that or label me a lunatic so be it. If you or anyone else does not support mobilising primary producers to fight their corner in a desperate situation because you belong to a different clique or group - shame on you"

Once again grassfarmer someone gives you a little advice and you come back with an inflamatory response and accuse others of saying what they did not say.

You have a great imagination and a very thin skin...shame on you!

[farmers_son]

Grassfarmer: Just to be clear, I was simply pointing out that the NFU has a credibility problem with government, particularly in Alberta. If you personally find the NFU represents your views then by all means you should offer them your support.

I certainly do support mobilizing primary producers to fight their corner in a desperate situation. The challenge is how best to do that. In the U.S. a few have joined R-CALF and maybe that got them some results they wanted. I personally question R-CALF's tactics. However, in Alberta BIG-C has been successful in getting positive media attention for their beliefs and I believe have made tangible progress.

Are we best to have many interest groups approaching government or are we best to have one voice like we see in Quebec. Perhaps it is time to revive Unifarm?

You might be interested in reading a history of Unifarm at:
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/abpolitics/people/influ_farmers.html

Also the University of Calgary Press has published a book Unifarm A Story of Conflict and Change that might be interesting. See: http://www.uofcpress.com/1-55238/1-55238-051-3.html

Also the Wild Rose Producers of Alberta website at: http://www.wrap.ab.ca/home.html

I am not a member of any of these groups and I do not advocate any of them. Just posing the question on how best to influence government.

Certainly we as an industry need to agree collectively on what we want to see happen before we go to government. I am not sure we are there yet and government is exploiting that indecisiveness and lack of a cohesive approach by doing nothing when it comes to charting a new future for beef producers.

If we aproach government with many voices then government will simply listen to the voice that tells them what they want to hear. The end result will be as producers we will not have influenced government at all.

[farmers_son]

when government starts hearing about an issue from a large number of people, they do react. However, I am afraid that this government does not respond well to any group that may be seen as attempting to embarass them. Much better to attempt to get a meeting with the Minister and discuss concerns with him as a group.

[grassfarmer]

Farmers_son, I agree entirely with your view that individual groups are achieving little and that is being exploited by Government. But how do we proceed from here? You say we are not at the point where we see the need to unite and present a uniform front. We will never reach that point either as our industry descends into a hole with each sector scrambling to get one up on the next link in the chain to survive. That is why I am advocating supporting a demonstration by cross the board primary producers. I have supported BIG-C both physically and financially as I have the NFU and I've also supported ABP through levy. Unfortunately the only group with credibility in the eyes of the AB government is ABP - shame they have no credibility in the eyes of producers. How do we change that?