LMFAO

[Integrity_Farmer]

That is all.

[lakenheath]

Grow up....

[wd9]

I'm sure all the people that work hard for 4H and the youth whose lives are changed thru it are definitely not.

[farmaholic]

He needs an ostrich feather for his hat.

[Braveheart]

I thought you were going to play the "Party Rock Anthem" for us.

[LWeber]

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/10/11/letters-oct-12

[newguy]

Great picture. 4-H is a very important youth group in rural areas. Glad to see the government sees this.

[mbratrud]

IF are you making fun of how someone looks?

[Integrity_Farmer]

I thought the SUN Tabloid would have a little better picture of him, since it is a subsidiary of their political party.

[freewheat]

Am i missing something? What is wrong with the picture?

[JoeyPotato]

Am I the only one that thinks this pic is hilarious? LOL. I am the #1 Gerry fan, but come on..... he looks rediculous.

[freewheat]

He looks like a farmer. an ag minister that looks like a farmer? I cannot imagine ralphie in those duds. Now that wouold be hilarious! Ralph would never dare cover his greasy helmet though.

[TOM4CWB]

Here is the article to go with the picture posted here:


Letters: Oct. 12 14



WINNIPEG SUN READERS

First posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 08:12 PM CDT


"Happy birthday, CWB



Birthday parties are usually more fun. Instead, Western Canadian wheat and barley farmers are capping off 68 years of being treated like second-class citizens. On Oct. 12, 1943, the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly was born and imposed on Western Canadian farmers when Canada was committed to supplying cheap wheat to Europe during the Second World War. From then on, farmers would be forbidden to sell their wheat or barley to anyone but the CWB.

Times have changed and technology now allows commodities to be sold by the click of a mouse. Western Canadian farmers have become successful marketers of pulses and flax. They’ve turned canola seeds into a thriving industry on the cutting edge of health science. Western Canadian grain farmers are leaders in innovation, stewards of the environment and managers of multi-million dollar businesses.

Farmers, not the CWB, have grown Canada’s reputation for world-class wheat and barley from the ground up. A lot has changed since the CWB monopoly was born but still farmers do not have the right to choose how they sell their grain.

For these reasons, our government has committed to giving Western Canadian farmers the right to choose how to market their wheat and barley, whether it’s through a voluntary CWB or on the open market. Our government intends to deliver on our promise and table legislation very soon.

So, happy birthday monopoly! We’ll help you blow out your candles. Farmers will finally get their wish.

GERRY RITZ, AGRICULTURE MINISTER

Can’t happen soon enough, either."





Obviously a picture from the Sun picture files... is my guess... being this was publication of a letter submitted to the Sun News Paper.

I would dispute the Oct 12 1943 date the confiscation began. This has to be a mistake.

Proof?

"Western Canadian farmers never asked for the monopoly. In 1935, a voluntary CWB was established by government and existed side by side with the open market. However, by 1943, in the midst of WWII, the Federal government “had for more than a year pegged the ceiling price for wheat at 77 3/8 cents per bushel for wheat used in the baking industry for domestic purposes, and when open market prices rose to $1.20 per bushel, they decided the cost to taxpayers was too great”. (Calgary Herald, Sept 29th, 1943) On September 28th, 1943, the federal government shut down the open market for wheat and made all sales of wheat to the CWB mandatory, forcing farmers to take a lower price."

THis is my understanding as well.

Tom4CWB.

http://www.wbga.org/09_02_11.pdf

Background:

"OPINION ARTICLE
The proposed August 2012 removal of the monopoly of the CWB has everything to do with property rights, and Allen Oberg, CWB chairman, should know this. In his letter in the August 31st Lethbridge Herald, he avoids dealing with the issue by trying to equate the CWB with supply management marketing boards for dairy and poultry. Not only have the Conservatives specifically stated for the past 5 years that supply management is not on the table, but comparing the CWB to supply management is like comparing apples to oranges.
In his letter, Mr. Oberg stated that "if a majority of producers in any agriculture sector want to market their production in an orderly fashion-through a quota system or a single desk selling agent-they have the right to set up such a system and compel all producers within the sector to abide by it." Excuse me? In the Canada I know, you need legislation which carries the threat of legal consequences to force farmers to market this way.
Western Canadian farmers never asked for the monopoly. In 1935, a voluntary CWB was established by government and existed side by side with the open market. However, by 1943, in the midst of WWII, the Federal government “had for more than a year pegged the ceiling price for wheat at 77 3/8 cents per bushel for wheat used in the baking industry for domestic purposes, and when open market prices rose to $1.20 per bushel, they decided the cost to taxpayers was too great”. (Calgary Herald, Sept 29th, 1943) On September 28th, 1943, the federal government shut down the open market for wheat and made all sales of wheat to the CWB mandatory, forcing farmers to take a lower price.
My grandfather told me farmers at the time understood it was their contributions to the war effort. He then would roar that the "war has been over for over 50 years and farmers are still paying for it!"
When Mr. Goodale changed the CWB Act in 1998 to have some farmer-elected directors govern the organization, it had nothing to do with democracy. If it had, he would have allowed farmers to elect all the positions for director. However, he kept 5 government-appointed positions, because the CWB is, was, and always will be, the creation of the Government of Canada. This created another layer of bureaucracy in the way of any succeeding government that might try to remove the monopoly of the CWB. Requiring farmer plebiscites and making it look like farmers run things (when we all know they don't) are great stalling tactics to any changes that anyone might try to make.
And running a plebiscite to decide the future of mandatory marketing is not democratic. It’s allowing some farmers to tell other farmers how to manage the marketing of their own wheat and barley; in other words, how to deal with their own property. This power, and the power of the monopoly, is only possible because of legislation; it can only be corrected by legislation.
The world has changed since September 28, 1943. Everywhere else in Canada except in the Designated Area farmers can adapt to those changes with their wheat and barley, but for some reason we are expected to be happy with a 68 year old monopoly. It’s time we changed. The essence of democracy is individual choice. It's my grain and I choose to market it myself.
Mr. Harper - I'm waiting for August 1, 2012. It can't come soon enough.
Doug Robertson
Alberta Vice President ~ WBGA
and Grain Producer
Carstairs, AB"

No wonder why I.F is laughing!

[cottonpicken]

What?

Don't you guys like to dress up and walk around
pretending your something your not.

But don't ever-ever dress up as a drunk homeless
indian,because REAL drunk homeless indians do not
find that funny at all and although they are easy to
outrun the beer bottles they can throw are
not,decades of practise have given them pin point
accuracy.

And cops,don't dress up as cops,they don't find it
funny either.

[riders2010]

Yes it looks a bit funny so to speak considering who he is. But I give him full credit in this context it probably means a great deal to those kids to see the ag minister there and involved. And no my kids are not in 4-h. I'm sure he didn't wake up in the morning and think he'd look fabulous in that outfit, but he did it anyhow. Good for you Mr. Ritz!

I dress up every day as a farmer thinking one of these years might be able to seed all acres and have good crop on all acres, I' m probably alot funnier than he is! lol!