Bill 43

[BFW]

Interesting the resources the ABP are dedicating to trying to preserve the status quo. I have heard spots on numerous radio stations and seen ads in various papers , the cost of which must be already running in the several hundred thousanf dollar range. Is this our democratically elected leadership acting on behalf of the beef industry or one just trying to preserve or ones just trying to save the ABP? Good use of our dollars..... Democracy ensures you get what you deserve. This is business..

[grassfarmer]

Every dictatorship has it's day - this performance just proves that the minister made a wise decision. The last ditch campaign to save your %@%5 and directors salaries is just the latest in a series of events that will turn producers even more against ABP.
When did ABP decide they backed a plebiscite?
Is it general ABP reserves funding the ad campaign or is it donations from concerned directors producers?
hum hum hum ... still waiting....

[farmers_son]

What could be more democratic than a plebiscite vote on an important issue?

Whether we are talking about mandatory age verification, mandatory premise ID, mandatory vaccination records, mandatory weaning dates or mandatory tracking of livestock movements it is the Stelmach government that is being dictatorial.

Bill 43 was introduced April 28. It got second reading yesterday May 6. Third reading could be as soon as next week. The government is trying to ram Bill 43 down our throats so his provinces livestock based commissions such as ABP cannot offer any opposition to ALMA and its elitist board who wish to control Alberta's cow calf producers, hog producers, lamb producers.

Producers cannot sit on their hands on this one. They need to contact their MLAs, the Premier, newspapers to make their views known that they should have the right to vote through a plebiscite. Time is running out folks. This needs to happen today. Producers need to decide who controls ABP... cow calf or feedlot.

Producers need to decide for themselves if they want a strong organization that can stand up to the Government and ALMA and say Government is not telling us what we have to do.

[per]

What would the ABP look like without the feedlot tax. Different that is for sure. It would still have funding and could use that funding to further the cause of it's new base. Cow calf operations. Do a good job and you will have all the money. Keep up not listening to the grass roots and your fears will come true. Some of us have an ongoing dialog with our MLA's and have discussed this several times. My MLA likes the idea of choice, so do I.

[grassfarmer]

"What could be more democratic than a plebiscite vote on an important issue?"
What indeed? that's why producers were calling for one for the last 3 years only to be denied at every turn by the dictatorial leadership of ABP.
When did the said ABP leadership suddenly decide we needed a plebiscite? seems no-one can provide an answer to this one...

[farmers_son]

I like choice too. That is why I want to vote through a plebiscite. Why won't the government let us vote on this and decide for ourselves? I think it is because the Governemnt knows how unpopular the mandatory aspects of ALMA are and that producers know full well ABP was the only organization that stood up for them on the mandatory issue.

Boils down to why won't the government let producers decide this for ourselves. Producers need to ask that question.

[BFW]

FArmere Son, I think you are the poster child for ABP. You really said a mouthful and tipped your hand when you said, "this is about who will control the ABP. cow-calf or feedlots." If this is the true feeling at ABP then clearly the minister and the government have made the right decsion here. It takes courage and leadership to make the hard, unpopular decisions sometimes. If this is all you guys have now, calling for a plebiscite and screaming about what an injustice has been done then you just continue to demonstrate how little value ABP actually brings to the industry. The really sad thing is how long this has been allowed to go on.

[per]

Choice was requested several years ago and denied by the very ABP that now wants a vote. That is why another route was chosen. The Minister is now offering us the choice that the ABP denied us. Too bad it had to come to this but I am sooo ready especially after the display of consternation and using our check-off dollars to lobby against at least several of it's constituents.

[farmers_son]

Just as I am sure you are not a poster child of the Alberta Cattle Feeders please believe me when I say I am not a poster boy for ABP. We have both expressed our opinions on checkoff going back quite some time. I do respect your opinion and understand where you are coming from.

However we are supposed to be living in a democracy in this province and country. The majority is supposed to rule. We will not know that the majority viewpoint is on this issue unless and until we have a plebiscite. If the feeders win then more power to them.

But we need the plebiscite and we need an informed debate with both sides expressing their viewpoints and the producers ultimately deciding the issue. It should not be a matter of who has the Premiers ear or who contributed the most the the Conservative campaign. I still believe the average guy needs to count for something and having the industry controlled by big shots will back fire on the entire industry in the long run.

[grassfarmer]

"The majority is supposed to rule. We will not know that the majority viewpoint is on this issue unless and until we have a plebiscite."
Didn't seem to matter when the producers were calling for a plebiscite. Talk about ordinary producers voices not counting.
Why should we back the dictators, oops...sorry directors, when they decide they want a plebiscite because they think they might just gain some job security by doing so?