The Winnipeg Free Press yesterday had a quote from Ken Ritter in reply to the question as to whether or not Strahl was his boss. The answer was a defiant "no". He also went on to say that since farmers pay all the bills of the CWB, he is only answerable to them.
The last time I checked, taxpayers guarantee the CWB's debt, as well as initial payments. Therefore, a representative of the taxpayer such as Chuck Strahl certainly is the boss of Mr. Ritter. Ritter and the Board have been getting totally out of hand in the last few months with their shrill, partisan yapping about how the sky will fall in a dual market. They remind me of a bunch of petulant, spoilt teenagers. It was time that someone took Ritter to the woodshed and reminded him that not all farmers by a long shot agree with such a hysterical assessment, and that they should not have to pay money out of the pool accounts to promote something they disagree with.
If the CWB had even portrayed a semblance of objectivity on the single desk/dual market issue, Strahl might not have had to resort to this action. Instead, the Board seems to have declared war on the Minister, giving him no choice but to act to end the chaos.
As far as any PR concerns go, unless and until masses of farmers take out memberships in the Liberal Party, the negative consequences for the Conservatives will be minimal.
The last time I checked, taxpayers guarantee the CWB's debt, as well as initial payments. Therefore, a representative of the taxpayer such as Chuck Strahl certainly is the boss of Mr. Ritter. Ritter and the Board have been getting totally out of hand in the last few months with their shrill, partisan yapping about how the sky will fall in a dual market. They remind me of a bunch of petulant, spoilt teenagers. It was time that someone took Ritter to the woodshed and reminded him that not all farmers by a long shot agree with such a hysterical assessment, and that they should not have to pay money out of the pool accounts to promote something they disagree with.
If the CWB had even portrayed a semblance of objectivity on the single desk/dual market issue, Strahl might not have had to resort to this action. Instead, the Board seems to have declared war on the Minister, giving him no choice but to act to end the chaos.
As far as any PR concerns go, unless and until masses of farmers take out memberships in the Liberal Party, the negative consequences for the Conservatives will be minimal.
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