Attn. CWB keep this up and you WILL lose your monopoly

[bgmb]

I am not what you would call a "violent anti CWB guy" but when you rule with an iron fist like today it really makes me wonder. The sh!t is going to hit the fan over this one, we can't run our businesses with an unpredictable entity like the CWB in charge of our marketing.

Something has to change downtown boys or you're history we aren't going to put up with this BS.

Yeah you might lose a bit of money on some trades big deal that's what the millions you have in the contingency fund is for.

How can the cwb expect to earn farmers respect/support without offering us at least as much flexibility as a grain company does?

What I mean by this is that all farmers are different some might want a pooled price some want to forward price a year before harvest and know exactly what they are going to get. Others might want to put their grain in the bin and wait for the price to go up and then sell for a cash price.

That's the bottom line, offer us the choices and options that are offered by the open market and make them fair and transparent (not instruments of the pool) or kiss your monopoly goodbye.

This isn't some idealogical crusade or freedom of choice issue for me. I just want the tools to be able to effectively run my business.

[btjadenlepp]

as adamsmith noted on a previous thread, which i believe to be true, today's events most likely have to do with the contingency fund being dry.

sad to think what this will do to the pool accounts. they've moved money back and forth before.

[bgmb]

no way its dry

[dalek]

Ahhhhh I love it when you guys start talking tough about the CWB. Reminds me of that Monty Python skit with the bobby chasing the thief down the street yelling "STOP! Or I'll yell STOP again!" The CWB knows they can do what they want to you and you won't do anything except get out the vaseline.

[Hopperbin]

I second that. No way its dry!

[Hopperbin]

Dalek is right. Too much wind, not enough action.

[cropduster]

So Hopperbin are you suggesting we need more vaseline to increase the action??????

[Lifer]

Nah. He's just saying he isn't dry.

[AdamSmith]

dalek and hopperbin,

I'm all ears here, looking for solid thoughtful input.

It's clear that what ever has been tried in the past hasn't lead to any meaning change. I'll agree with that.

Frustration level is overflowing and clearly we are missing something, something that can deliver a knockout punch.

So please share with us, as you see it, an action that hasn't already been tried and that will deliver the knockout punch.

Don't be shy here, alternative strategies need to be considered and are welcome.

AdamSmith

[dalek]

AdamSmith, I'd recommend talking to Dwight Foster in Ontario(613)489-2860. He was one of the main drivers of the action here in the last couple years and while it didn't work 100% it worked better than most expected. Main things to remember are 1. Party doesn't matter, so stay non-partisan. Doesn't matter if you voted conservative all your life, you can't start thinking the Conservatives (or anybody else) are on your side.
2. The main force in government is inertia. You have to make the status quo more uncomfortable for the government than change and that's hard to do.

Dwight can give you a lot more ideas. For instance, if you blockade traffic, you can generally expect trouble from the police. However when the food terminals were "blockaded" in Ontario they found that a rolling blockade is legal. So say (for instance) if CWB headquarters is on a certain block and not a dead end street somewhere. You get enough tractors to circle the block, make sure the SMVs and lighting are all legal on them, and circle the block clockwise very slowly. Can you turn right on a red light in the west? Can in Ontario, not in Quebec. Anyway if you can turn right on reds you can keep the tractors moving pretty steadily around the block and allow very little traffic in or out without breaking any laws.

[dalek]

dwightfoster@hotmail.com if he's still using that address.

[dalek]

The other thing is to be VERY visible to MPs. The bright yellow Farmers Feed Cities signs and tshirts in Ontario got to be one of the most recognized symbols around. Any time an MP went to any sort of public event whatsoever there were farmers there in yellow shirts, polite but visible, reminding them that there was unfinished business.

[dalek]

Ohhh yeah... if you can't get rid of the monopoly with this political environment for the feds, minority government, everyone jockeying for position... get used to it. You're going to have it for a long time.