Former CWB Commisioner sues Government

[Incognito]

Court Hears How Canadian Wheat Board Official Lived a Life on the High
Road
March 8, 2004, Airdrie, AB.: "It is clear that a former Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) Commissioner lived a life on the high
road at the expense of farmers" said Douglas McBain, President, Western Barley Growers Association (WBGA), when
commenting on former CWB Commissioner Richard Klassen's suit against the crown for almost $2 million for lost wages and
benefits.
Mr. Klassen was 57 years of age when he received a retirement package of $352,079.36 in December 1998 to make way for the
new appointed and elected CWB Board of Directors. Court documents dated February 6, 2004 revealed that Mr Klassen
attempted to sue the Crown for lost wages and fringe benefits he considered due until age 70. Included in the lost fringe benefits
he claimed were airport lounge privileges and memberships in country clubs.
"Although there is a new governance structure in place at the CWB, administration costs have continued to rise. Does the
increase in cost indicate that the practice of providing country club memberships to senior staff at farmers' expense continues?"
questioned McBain.
The 2002 - 03 annual report shows that farmers paid $1,256,934 in benefits to CWB senior management in addition to $2,372,811
in salaries.
"Does the $1,256,934 paid for benefits shown in the annual report include fringe benefits such as cars, country club memberships
and airport lounge privileges or are those items hidden in operating costs?" asks McBain.
For more information contact the Western Barley Growers Association

[dnach]

ahhh, the tip of the ice-berg is revealed. CWB supporters, oh yea there is only one on here, sould have a good hard look in the mirror. BTW where is the rest of this silent majority? Be interesting to hear their side of the story, that is if they have internet access at the seniors center.

[boone]

LAST POST: Did you ever notice, FROZEN WHEAT STANDS STRAIGHT AND TALL, and have you ever querried why? Adios.

[charliep]

Hopefully you still participate.

Watching/being involved in the commodity area of Agri-ville is a bit like a hockey game. Everybody seems to like the fights/dirty play but no one seems to appreciate the skill of the game. It is easy to get 50 posting on a CWB political/policy issue but its tough to get 2 posting on a risk management strategy/crop insurance one. The ones who participate in the latter tend to be the professionals who advice farmers versus the individuals who make their livelihood selling product. A frustration of mine.

[Incognito]

Re Risk management Charlie:

Provide bullet proof vests and maybe more people would participate.

You must remember Ed Conn...

this is his line: "people who know - don't tell".

Getting beat up for free is not a pastime most enjoy unless of course its politics....lol

[rockpile]

Is this the same CharlieP?
Ya, you are right on about the crossover between business and wheat board politics. Blame the wheat board for everything, the weather, shipping, railways, taxes, gun registry, fishing licenses, weeds - everything. I've been out of the loop for awhile, exercising my retirement - freedom '53'. Yup, sold out, built a nice house, plan to ride my 'harley', and swing my clubs a lot. Done it all by growing wheat and durum. Sold to the CWB. Really got screwed over. Yup, blame the board, real easy. Ignore the other things,like the variable price option on Crop Ins 2 years ago - blame the Board. Oh yeah, cheer on Mark Hlady, our 'freedom fighter'. He'll make you 'real' prosperous. Well folks, if you don't start paying attention to the details, you'll be working till you die. My legacy to your survival - don't overspend your expectations of profit, like everyone else in business. Understand risk. Understand risk management. Know who your friends are. Know who are not your friends. Don't get sucked in. Take a good look at yourselves and depreciate yourselves 112%. The land will always be farmed, by you, or some other fool. Who gives a rats you know what about you or your personal skills? Get real. Pay attention to Charlie. See you at the nineteenth hole, maybe.
Rockpile

[parsley]

Gagliano's sentiment's exactly, rockpile.

Questions and accountability are SUCH a nuisance.

[katoe]

Charlie

Why not have a whole site set up for cwb bashing .I want to get ideas and useful advice on how to get the best bang for the buck within the system that we have to work with using this site .Everytime the c word is mentioned the same old rhetoric begins.Lets move ahead.

[Incognito]

So I take it that the squeaky wheel only works in cattle marketing and not grain marketing?

KATO:

posted Mar 16, 2004 17:05
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Let's make some noise. Take a page from the activist's book. Call a local radio show and get the address out so everyone can comment. People hear there is a comment period, but they really don't realize that they can comment...not just Americans.

Even if the fix IS in, no one can say we didn't try.

[rockpile]

Nobody understands
Parsley, you missed the point of my message. I did okay by the CWB. A good workman never blames his tools. Katoe, it will never happen. This discussion is from the pulpit, not the boardroom. Name another industry that developes marketing stratagies based on 'feelings' and 'philosophy'. Banking, insurance, energy? I think not. Today's failure in agriculture is largely the outcome of the 'me' generation realizing their ambitions. They have no concept of who they are up against. The land will always be farmed. Who gives a rat's you know what by whom. Reverse your thinking. If competition is so good, why won't the Alberta Govt open crop insurance up to the private sector? Clue, they might lose some control over what is grown and lose some ground to the CWB. CAIS, ouch. Glad I'm done.
2 university degrees, 10 certificates on the wall, and GPS to boot, the thinking still fits in with hewers of wood and drawers of water, only more sophisticated with more buzzwords attached. See you on the Malecon.
Rockpile

[TOM4CWB]

Rockpile;

I find it interesting that you, after retirement, still must sucker punch us on the CWB.

Many many constructive things on risk management have been highlighted in the past few months, including when the CWB gives a mm...

TYPICAL of why we have not solved CWB issues...

Those who believe in the CWB vote from the grave if they can. ANd they vote to restrict my farm, my community, my family...

Envy, and fear, are very strong CWB led emotions...
Faith in positve dream for the future... trusting in the creativity and innovative capacity of our communities... to carve out a positive future for our next generation of farmers... is so much more constructive.

[parsley]

No rockpile, you missed my point.

Probably a buyback for YOU last week would be better than the $3.17 buyback quoted for durum for most of the complainants.


Anyone like you who plays by Board rules.....supporting them publically, never citicizing them, will do well within Board rules. (But poorly compared to a market driven system.)

Gagliano and Michelle Vallant play this kind of game too.. playing theuir board rules....You know the crew. These folks don't have to compete in the real world, because there's is a world of cash-padding, of privilege, of patronage, of money being planned to change hands at Liberal fundraisers.


The CWB knows who their supporters are, too.

Most farmers have a philosophy of wanting to get cash to pay bills. And they want all their neighbors to be able to pay their bills. It's a good philosphy. Most farmers just want to enjoy what THEY earn.

And then there's the folks who demand a piece of what everybody earns. What they call their guaranteed fair share. Pooling. It is a political philosophy,as you say, rockpile, and it is how the CWN governs.

That's where guys like Richard Klassen comes in. He wants his fair share, too. And he's the kind of guy you find in Malecon, along with the Canadian Senator they tracked down a few years ago, same place probably, sunburned and sqawking about his right not to attend Parliament. After all, he was a Senator, for god's sake. Klassen should be run out of any agricultural buillding he sets foot in.

Fair share guys only metamorphose into what they really are: Guys who ask "How can I get a piece of the action"

Don't click on CWB threads, katoe.

That is your perfect solution to address your obvious 'sensitivity' to Wheat Board discussions.

rockpile, hope you have a good retirement. Never met a farmer who hasn't earned one and hope you keep in touch on this site. Nice to touch base with you again. It's good for the blood pressure.

Parsley

[Incognito]

Katoe:

You expected to find why the Soybean May/Nov spread is CAD$68.00 wider than the May/Nov canola spread under a headline entitled:

Former CWB Commish sues Government?

[TOM4CWB]

Rockpile;

On Crop Insurance...

The Crop Insurance review had a major emphasis on looking at competition... and many thought it would be prudent to move to a US style system that allows competition in administration.

AFSC needs to heed what Premier Klein said in Toronto today... that the government (AFSC) works for the people.

That is us.

Unilateral changes to C.I. coverage without consultation is not my Idea of listening to farmers.

[rockpile]

To all,
Tom, CI has been a political tool for all too long here. Parsley, I will keep in touch and possibly stay in contact. Fact is, I've always grown non-Board grains as well, and the truth is, over 30 years, nothing has improved on either side of the coin. Farmers continue to farm by increasing their size to cover reduced margins. Like it or not, the NFU is right on this one. But like a neighbor of mine told me the other day (he is huge by all standards and very diversified), we are in a funnel, and no matter what, you end up on a pinpoint. He feels, rightly, that the juice is being sucked out of him. (He, an extreme right winger) keeps bringing up the idea of a marketing board for feeder cattle. Go figure.
Finally, I am working on preparations for my auction sale. Everything will leave my farm going to the highest bidder. Guess what, I will be using a single-desk seller - the auctioneer. Think about it guys. Don't like the auctioneer, make him better. You have one shot, do your best. Competition on the open market, very delusive. Eu and USA don't play your game, and never will. So, what tools can you employ?
Rockpile