e-lection feverites

[parsley]

A couple of sites for those with the fever:

http://www.punditsguide.ca/index.php

http://www.nodice.ca/elections/canada/ridings.php

Parsley

[parsley]

One CWB Director certainly has election fever. And a conflict of interest fever.

A Choice diretor at the Board Table needs to yank Flaman's thermometer because here's his temperature:

From the Winnipeg Free Press, September 5, 2008

titled

"Ballot box could decide wheat board's future
Critical directors seats up for grabs"


"One of the biggest threats to the Canadian Wheat Board is the potential for a federal Conservative majority," Flaman said Thursday. "That would be the end of the Canadian Wheat Board. And at this point in time one of the most important things that I can do is reduce Stephen Harper's majority by one."

Flaman plans to run for re-election to the CWB board if he loses his House of Commons bid. He would still have six days after an Oct. 14 federal election to meet the nomination deadline for the CWB vote.

But Rutter said that could backfire on Flaman. "How will farmers react to somebody who is running for two offices -- or looking at the wheat board one as the consolation prize?"




Flaman has already conceded the Liberals have lost. Interesting.


When you're sick with Conflict of Interest fever, you can't make good Board decisions.

Parsley

[parsley]

Two days of rain is easier to take then indignant Bruce Johnston's political rantings in this morning's Leader Post.


Quote

"They'll stoop to anything

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper goes to Rideau Hall Sunday morning to ask Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean to dissolve Parliament, triggering a federal election, you can bet he won't be asking her to remove election spending limits.

But that is exactly what his government is doing in the Canadian Wheat Board director elections, which got underway this week.

On Friday, the federal agriculture department announced that spending limits on third parties would be removed, while the $15,000 spending limits by director candidates would remain.

This means that, unlike federal election campaigns, there are no limits on what third parties can spend to support the candidate or ideological position of their choice.

It should be noted that no farm groups -- for or against the Canadian Wheat Board -- lobbied for this change. A review done a couple of years ago concluded that no changes were needed to spending limits in CWB director elections.

So what motivated the government to arbitrarily remove the limits on third party spending in CWB director elections?

Consider Harper's words in Saskatoon recently when asked about the future of the CWB and its monopoly on export sales of Western Canadian wheat and barley.

The PM said he would "walk over'' anyone that got in his way of providing marketing freedom for farmers.

Harper has made no secret of the fact that he wants to end the CWB's legal monopoly to sell Western farmers' grain, believing it to be an anathema and an anachronism in a free market economy, like Canada.

Make no mistake, Harper is entitled to his belief that state-owned marketing boards are inefficient, wrong and even anti-democratic.

And, as leader of a majority Conservative government, which he may well be after Oct. 14, he is entitled to introduce and pass legislation to bring about the end of the CWB's monopoly and the CWB, for that matter.

But in his zeal to end the CWB's legal monopoly, Harper and his government have broken federal legislation that they are duty-bound to respect.

One three separate occasions in the past 12 months, the Harper government has been found in violation its own laws by the federal court.

The Conservative government has tried to do indirectly what it cannot do
directly: weaken, undermine and ultimately destroy the CWB's right to sell wheat and barley on export markets on behalf of Western Canadian farmers.

It summarily fired the CEO of the CWB Adrian Measner for doing his job, something it planned to do four months prior to his termination -- and stick farmers with Measner's severance.

It has tried to impose gag orders on the CWB directors and officials. It has sacked government-appointed directors and replaced them with open-market supporters. It has arbitrarily struck 16,000 names from CWB voters lists -- in the middle of the 2006 director elections.

It is now endeavouring to tilt the balance in it's favour in the current CWB direct election, which run from early September to the end of November.

By removing third-party spending limits, the Harperites have opened the door to corporations, special interest groups, perhaps even the Conservative Party itself, to promote candidates that favour the open market over the single desk.

Far fetched? Consider that one of the candidates for director, Sam Magnus, is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada's national council.

The Harper government, it seems, will stoop to just about anything to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board.

Any prime minister who would break his own fixed-election date legislation is capable of getting rid of the CWB -- by hook or by crook.


- Bruce Johnstone is the Leader-Post's financial editor. " UNQUOTE


Did you notice he "forgot" to mention LiberalcandidateCWBdirectorMr.ConflictofInterestFl aman? Must have been an oversight!

Bruce Johnson forgot to mention that the corporations don't want the CWB to die because their best asset when they negotiate an operating loan at the bank, is the sweet sweet handling agreements they have negotiated with the CWB when acting as the CWB's Accredited exporter and/or accredited agents of the CWB.

Bruce Johnson knows that the Conservative Party, right from Day One, promised to provide marketing choice to the farmers who want it. 'Twas was an election promise. Bruce forgot?

Any Financial Editor who continues to preach nineteenfortyseven ways of doing business in 2008, obviously still sips Tommy Douglas koolaid.

Can't-add Bruce is one financial editor I'd love to see actually live on, and pay his bills from, the net income of the CWB wheat and barley farmgate revenue, that the CWB stuttered-out slowly each bi-years, over the past decade.

Is there any remote possiblilty, any smidge, any teensy-weensy chance, that the CWB could have helped Johnstone write this rantatorial?

How could I think such a think?

Parsley

[parsley]

http://www.cwb.ca/public/en/newsroom/media/bios/#board

Rod Flaman is listed as

"On Leave"


Good for you Rod.

Parsley

[highwayman]

Perhaps Rowdy Roddy Flamann should be listed as on leave of all ethics,common sense and moral conduct instead. Certainly more suiting