CWB poll asks wrong question
By Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-PostDecember 3, 2011
An opinion poll published in this paper this week suggests Saskatchewan people don't know or care much about the Canadian Wheat Board and, of those that do, most support the federal government's plans to remove the CWB's monopoly on wheat and barley sales. The poll, conducted by the University of Saskatchewan just days after the provincial election, showed 47 per cent of respondents had no opinion on the CWB's monopoly, while 30 per cent opposed the monopoly and 24 per cent supported it.
It's not much of stretch to say the poll indicates the degree to which Saskatchewan has changed from a predominately rural province to a predominately urban province.
Back in the late 1920s, when the province's population wasn't much different than it is today, 80 per cent of the population lived in rural areas and 20 per cent in urban areas. Today, that ratio is reversed and it comes as no surprise that urban people several generations removed from the farm don't know or care much about what happens on the farm.
And it's fair to say the poll shows those who have an opinion about the CWB's monopoly generally support the party line, with one in three respondents supporting the Conservative Party's opposition to the CWB's single desk and one in four supporting the NDP's support for the monopoly. The problem is the poll asks the wrong question to the wrong people. The question - "Do you favour the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on selling prairie wheat, durum and barley or do you have no opinion on this matter?" - suggests that the issue is the granting of the monopoly to the CWB in 1943.
The real issue is not a piece of legislation that was passed 68 years ago and has been reviewed and renewed regularly by Parliament until the Harper Conservatives won their majority in May.
The real issue is the legislation introduced this fall - Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act - which the Harper government is in the process of ramming through Parliament. The real question is: "Do you favour the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk without a producer plebiscite as required by the Canadian Wheat Board Act?"
Of course, people say that's too complicated for an opinion poll question and they would have a point. And that is the point. The issue of whether the CWB's monopoly should be removed or not is complicated and complex - not the sort of thing most people think about on a daily basis.
Unless, of course, you're one of the 50,000 or 60,000 Prairie farmers who deliver wheat and barley to the Canadian Wheat Board. Then the issue is very real with major consequences to their livelihood.
Yet these are the very people who are being denied their right to decide on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board by the very government that claims to put "farmers first.'' Why are they being denied their rights?
Because the Harper government is afraid of what would happen if farmers were given the choice between the single desk or the open market. Despite claiming that they represent farmers' views, the Conservatives have failed to produce one opinion poll or scientific survey to show that the majority of wheat and barley farmers support the dismantling of the single desk.
Instead, the Tories trot out agriculture ministers from provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta that support their position, conveniently ignoring the one province that stands to lose the most by the removal of the single desk, Manitoba.
In fact, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz had to be asked three times before he admitted Manitoba's agriculture minister wasn't invited to "celebrate'' the passage of Bill C-18 at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud was no better than Ritz, saying farmers were happy about the legislation passing in the Commons, but provided no evidence to support his claim.
Is this the way public policy is conducted in this country? No consultation, no research, no statistics, no planning, no studies, no nothing, except we're the government and we're always right? Is that the kind of Canada we want?
Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/news/poll asks wrong question/5805529/story.html#ixzz1fVbP1NwW
By Bruce Johnstone, The Leader-PostDecember 3, 2011
An opinion poll published in this paper this week suggests Saskatchewan people don't know or care much about the Canadian Wheat Board and, of those that do, most support the federal government's plans to remove the CWB's monopoly on wheat and barley sales. The poll, conducted by the University of Saskatchewan just days after the provincial election, showed 47 per cent of respondents had no opinion on the CWB's monopoly, while 30 per cent opposed the monopoly and 24 per cent supported it.
It's not much of stretch to say the poll indicates the degree to which Saskatchewan has changed from a predominately rural province to a predominately urban province.
Back in the late 1920s, when the province's population wasn't much different than it is today, 80 per cent of the population lived in rural areas and 20 per cent in urban areas. Today, that ratio is reversed and it comes as no surprise that urban people several generations removed from the farm don't know or care much about what happens on the farm.
And it's fair to say the poll shows those who have an opinion about the CWB's monopoly generally support the party line, with one in three respondents supporting the Conservative Party's opposition to the CWB's single desk and one in four supporting the NDP's support for the monopoly. The problem is the poll asks the wrong question to the wrong people. The question - "Do you favour the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on selling prairie wheat, durum and barley or do you have no opinion on this matter?" - suggests that the issue is the granting of the monopoly to the CWB in 1943.
The real issue is not a piece of legislation that was passed 68 years ago and has been reviewed and renewed regularly by Parliament until the Harper Conservatives won their majority in May.
The real issue is the legislation introduced this fall - Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act - which the Harper government is in the process of ramming through Parliament. The real question is: "Do you favour the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk without a producer plebiscite as required by the Canadian Wheat Board Act?"
Of course, people say that's too complicated for an opinion poll question and they would have a point. And that is the point. The issue of whether the CWB's monopoly should be removed or not is complicated and complex - not the sort of thing most people think about on a daily basis.
Unless, of course, you're one of the 50,000 or 60,000 Prairie farmers who deliver wheat and barley to the Canadian Wheat Board. Then the issue is very real with major consequences to their livelihood.
Yet these are the very people who are being denied their right to decide on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board by the very government that claims to put "farmers first.'' Why are they being denied their rights?
Because the Harper government is afraid of what would happen if farmers were given the choice between the single desk or the open market. Despite claiming that they represent farmers' views, the Conservatives have failed to produce one opinion poll or scientific survey to show that the majority of wheat and barley farmers support the dismantling of the single desk.
Instead, the Tories trot out agriculture ministers from provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta that support their position, conveniently ignoring the one province that stands to lose the most by the removal of the single desk, Manitoba.
In fact, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz had to be asked three times before he admitted Manitoba's agriculture minister wasn't invited to "celebrate'' the passage of Bill C-18 at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud was no better than Ritz, saying farmers were happy about the legislation passing in the Commons, but provided no evidence to support his claim.
Is this the way public policy is conducted in this country? No consultation, no research, no statistics, no planning, no studies, no nothing, except we're the government and we're always right? Is that the kind of Canada we want?
Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/news/poll asks wrong question/5805529/story.html#ixzz1fVbP1NwW
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