Parsley... Agrivillers... Remember this?
12 years later... and we are BACK!
How far will it go?
SPECIAL REPORT from the Western Producer
By Tracy Tjaden
On the bad days at the Canadian Wheat Board's head office, Bob Roehle is sometimes wary when the postman comes calling.
With disgruntled farmers waging a spirited public battle against the board, the 27-year CWB veteran never thought it would come to this.
"I don't admit this very often but in the last few years, whenever a parcel shows up on my desk, I look at it and make sure I know who it's from and that it's legitimate," said Roehle, head of corporate communications.
"The thought always crosses my mind that this could be one of those parcels that blows up in your face. That doesn't make you feel very good."
A spokesperson for the Canadian Farm Enterprise Network scoffed at the suggestion that anti-wheat board feelings could take such a violent turn, calling Roehle paranoid.
"I'm not even going to deal with this issue," said Portage la Prairie, Man., producer Jim Pallister.
"It's absurd, it's insane … it's strange these guys have got to this point."
But inside the four walls of the agency's downtown Winnipeg headquarters, a siege mentality grows.
Over coffee, after meetings or at the end of a tough week, employees who believe they're trying to get the best deal for farmers talk about the pressure that is building.
"When the board is under attack and employees are being accused of just looking after their own interests and their pension plans, it hurts," Roehle said. "Being passed off as big bad government taking our direction from Ottawa is really quite painful for all of us."
It has also hurt the board, he said. Turnover is higher as young employees leave to find work somewhere that they feel they're appreciated.
"To have your motives questioned and everything you do being suspect and being ridiculed is certainly hard on morale," Roehle said.
The mood got "extremely intense" when the Western Grain Marketing Panel report came out. It recommended some reduction in the board's marketing authority. "There was a feeling that things could get bad."
The board beefed up security last year.
Earlier, hunger striker Tom Jackson had parked himself outside board offices determined to fast until the agency granted him an export licence to sell his grain in the United States.
The Alberta farmer's fast lasted 34 days and CWB employees breathed a sigh of relief that he did not fulfil his threat to fast until death.
Roehle said he'd be surprised if the anti-board campaign turned violent, but insisted there's no telling how far an extremist will go. "Sometimes when you get that type of volatile environment, you attract the looney fringe and that was the concern."
Jim Ness understands that concern.The Oyen, Alta. farmer once active in Canadian Farmers for Justice said he wants to make sure the fight to end the wheat board's monopoly never claims casualties.
"What I've seen in the Farmers for Justice and the Canadian Farm Enterprise Network is farmers that are so mad at governments and monopolies that if government doesn't move and start negotiating, there will ultimately be bloodshed," Ness said.
"That's how determined these people are to gain freedom from these monopolies."
If the federal government doesn't listen to farmers, confrontations at the border will get worse, Ness predicts. "You'll see armed convoys taking trucks across."
Michael Gertler, a University of Saskatchewan sociologist, said that isn't beyond the realm of possibility. While Gertler said he has not studied Farmers for Justice, there is evidence movements like the anti-wheat board lobby grow from distrust of big government and big business.
In Canada, one result has been formation of new political parties or groups like Canadian Farmers for Justice.
But open market supporter Bob Nunweiler doesn't like to hear suggestions that the group might take violent actions. He said attempts to compare the Canadian Farmers for Justice with militant groups " is just a way for them to blacken our name."
"I've been involved in a lot of border crossings and I never saw any individuals ready to lose self-control and do something dumb."
12 years later... and we are BACK!
How far will it go?
SPECIAL REPORT from the Western Producer
By Tracy Tjaden
On the bad days at the Canadian Wheat Board's head office, Bob Roehle is sometimes wary when the postman comes calling.
With disgruntled farmers waging a spirited public battle against the board, the 27-year CWB veteran never thought it would come to this.
"I don't admit this very often but in the last few years, whenever a parcel shows up on my desk, I look at it and make sure I know who it's from and that it's legitimate," said Roehle, head of corporate communications.
"The thought always crosses my mind that this could be one of those parcels that blows up in your face. That doesn't make you feel very good."
A spokesperson for the Canadian Farm Enterprise Network scoffed at the suggestion that anti-wheat board feelings could take such a violent turn, calling Roehle paranoid.
"I'm not even going to deal with this issue," said Portage la Prairie, Man., producer Jim Pallister.
"It's absurd, it's insane … it's strange these guys have got to this point."
But inside the four walls of the agency's downtown Winnipeg headquarters, a siege mentality grows.
Over coffee, after meetings or at the end of a tough week, employees who believe they're trying to get the best deal for farmers talk about the pressure that is building.
"When the board is under attack and employees are being accused of just looking after their own interests and their pension plans, it hurts," Roehle said. "Being passed off as big bad government taking our direction from Ottawa is really quite painful for all of us."
It has also hurt the board, he said. Turnover is higher as young employees leave to find work somewhere that they feel they're appreciated.
"To have your motives questioned and everything you do being suspect and being ridiculed is certainly hard on morale," Roehle said.
The mood got "extremely intense" when the Western Grain Marketing Panel report came out. It recommended some reduction in the board's marketing authority. "There was a feeling that things could get bad."
The board beefed up security last year.
Earlier, hunger striker Tom Jackson had parked himself outside board offices determined to fast until the agency granted him an export licence to sell his grain in the United States.
The Alberta farmer's fast lasted 34 days and CWB employees breathed a sigh of relief that he did not fulfil his threat to fast until death.
Roehle said he'd be surprised if the anti-board campaign turned violent, but insisted there's no telling how far an extremist will go. "Sometimes when you get that type of volatile environment, you attract the looney fringe and that was the concern."
Jim Ness understands that concern.The Oyen, Alta. farmer once active in Canadian Farmers for Justice said he wants to make sure the fight to end the wheat board's monopoly never claims casualties.
"What I've seen in the Farmers for Justice and the Canadian Farm Enterprise Network is farmers that are so mad at governments and monopolies that if government doesn't move and start negotiating, there will ultimately be bloodshed," Ness said.
"That's how determined these people are to gain freedom from these monopolies."
If the federal government doesn't listen to farmers, confrontations at the border will get worse, Ness predicts. "You'll see armed convoys taking trucks across."
Michael Gertler, a University of Saskatchewan sociologist, said that isn't beyond the realm of possibility. While Gertler said he has not studied Farmers for Justice, there is evidence movements like the anti-wheat board lobby grow from distrust of big government and big business.
In Canada, one result has been formation of new political parties or groups like Canadian Farmers for Justice.
But open market supporter Bob Nunweiler doesn't like to hear suggestions that the group might take violent actions. He said attempts to compare the Canadian Farmers for Justice with militant groups " is just a way for them to blacken our name."
"I've been involved in a lot of border crossings and I never saw any individuals ready to lose self-control and do something dumb."