Survey Says..

[parsley]

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE: 2006.12.27


Let farmers decide: survey
Manitobans split on ending wheat board's monopoly


Manitobans are evenly split on whether they support the federal government's goal of ending the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly, but the vast majority of residents say farmers should ultimately decide the matter.

A Winnipeg Free Press/Jory Capital Inc. poll found that nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of Manitobans said they were aware of the ongoing wheat board debate.

Meanwhile, 11,000 ballots have gone out to farmers across the province as part of a political dispute between Gary Doer's NDP government and the federal Conservatives over the fate of the wheat board.

The ballots, which are due back Jan. 5, won't carry any legal weight but the provincial government hopes they will send a strong message to Ottawa.

Chuck Fossay, a Starbuck-area farmer, said the decision where to mark his "X" was an easy one. He said he supports the CWB and described Ottawa's handling of the whole affair as "heavy-handed." "The wheat board has made a lot of improvements over the last five or six years since we went to an elected board of directors representing farmers," he said in an interview.

Among those who were aware of the issue, 44 per cent said they were opposed to ending the wheat board single desk -- including 28 per cent who were strongly opposed, 32 per cent supported it and 24 per cent were undecided, according to the poll, which was conducted by Probe Research Inc.

Winnipeggers tended to be more supportive of the wheat board single desk than non-Winnipeggers, the survey showed.

Patrick Cooney, chairman and CEO of Jory Capital, said that result stood out.

"That's got to be directly related to Winnipeggers worrying about losing those jobs, which I think is a legitimate concern," Cooney said, referring to the fact the wheat board's head office is located in the city.

In Winnipeg, 38 per cent opposed Ottawa's policy to end the single desk (23 per cent strongly), while 35 per cent supported it (14 per cent
strongly) and 27 per cent were undecided.

In the rest of the province, 29 per cent opposed Ottawa's position (17 per cent strongly), while 31 per cent supported it (16 per cent strongly).

Scott MacKay, president of Probe Research, said the one thing Manitobans were sure of was that farmers should get the final say on what happens to the wheat board's sales monopoly.

"People from all walks of life, and it doesn't matter whether you're rural or urban, or young or old or NDP or PC -- everyone seems to agree that this is for the farmers to decide. So that part is clear," he said.


Seventy-seven per cent of Manitobans surveyed said the final decision should be made by farmers, while only six per cent said government should have the final say.

Fossay said the federal government seems unwilling to listen to producers in favour of the single-desk marketing system. He's not giving up hope, however. He said a federal plebiscite on barley marketing early in the new year will send yet another indication of farmers' approval with the single-desk system to Ottawa.

"There's always the possibility of a federal election in the new year, too. (Federal Liberal leader) Stephane Dion said he supports the single-desk system, he's willing to let farmers decide and let the democratically elected directors decide how the wheat board will proceed in the future," he said.

MacKay said he was surprised by the high level of undecided respondents who live outside the city.

In Winnipeg, 27 per cent said they were unsure of where they stood on the wheat board's monopoly, while outside of Winnipeg the number soared to 40 per cent.

"You'd think that if you're in a rural place where this debate has been playing out for years... you'd have entrenched views on this," he said.

"But that does not really seem to be the case; in fact it seems to be the opposite." He noted, however, that grain farmers would have made up only a small percentage of the people surveyed outside of Winnipeg.

Overall, 34 per cent of Manitobans surveyed supported the government's wheat board policy, while 34 per cent opposed it and 32 per cent were unsure. Within those totals, 20 per cent of respondents strongly opposed the government's position while 15 per cent strongly endorsed it.

MacKay said single-desk advocates could take some comfort in the fact there was more support for their position among Manitobans who are aware of the issue.

The survey of 1,000 Manitobans was conducted by telephone between Nov. 27 and Dec. 5. It's considered to be accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time.

The reasoning behind the responses Most common reasons for supporting abolition of the single desk: z 30 per cent said change would be better for farmers z 21 per cent said farmers would get better prices without it z 17 per cent said having competition would be better than a wheat board monopoly z 14 per cent said it would enhance personal freedom Most common reasons for opposing abolition of the single desk: z 28 per cent said single-desk system works well as it is 17 per cent said farmers would receive lower prices if it were abolished 12 per cent said farmers are not in the business of selling wheat 10 per cent said farmers support the current arrangement Those most likely to support abolition of the single-desk marketing system: Men (39 per cent versus 28 per cent among women).

Supporters of the provincial PCs (48 per cent versus 31 per cent among provincial Liberal supporters and 25 per cent among provincial NDP
supporters) Those most likely to oppose abolition of the wheat board
monopoly: Winnipeg residents (38 per cent versus 29 per cent among those living outside the city).

Those who expressed an awareness of the proposed changes (44 per cent versus 17 per cent who expressed little or no awareness).

Supporters of the provincial NDP (53 per cent versus 31 per cent among Liberal supporters and 25 per cent among Conservative supporters).

Source: Probe Research Inc.

[liberty]

Have a look at the smalldeadanimals website. Chuck Fossay is a bit more than just a "Starbuck area farmer".

The bias of the Mainstream Media in the CWB controversy just keeps getting more and more obvious with time.

[AdamSmith]

The following letter to the editor is in today's WFP

Respect farmers' rights

Re: Let farmers decide: survey, Dec. 27.

I am curious about the result that showed 77 per cent of Manitobans said the final decision (making the Canadian Wheat Board into a voluntary organization) should be made by farmers. Was that farmers individually? Or was it farmers collectively?

Do 77 per cent of Manitobans support individual farmers making individual decisions? Or do Manitobans support the possible scenario where 51 per cent of the "farmers" will be allowed to continue to take away the individual rights of 49 per cent of the "farmers?"

How a farmer runs his business and markets his grain should be an individual decision, not a collective one. I'm still unclear from this poll where Manitobans are on that point because that is the real issue at play. It's quite shameful really, because in any other walk of life the question would be irrelevant as individual rights to property and free association prevail without challenge.


BERNIE SAMBROOK

Medora

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The Calgary Sun
DATE: 2006.12.30
Editorial

Grain of truth

Federal Liberal leader Stephane Dion made a pit stop in Winnipeg, home of the Canadian Wheat Board, recently, to take a run at the Harper government's proposal to give Prairie grain farmers choice in how they sell their product.

Dion's weak grasp of the file shows how ill-equipped he is to deal with Western Canadian issues. What Dion knows about Prairie grain farming could probably fit on the end of his pinkie finger.

What we do know is Dion knows nothing about the Canadian Wheat Board, how it's set up or who controls it. He accused the Harper government of subverting democracy because Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl has fired wheat board CEO Adrian Measner after the government lost confidence in him.

Measner was speaking out against government's proposal to give grain farmers choice in how they sell their product, which was not his role as CWB CEO.

Dion says the firing is undemocratic because the wheat board is controlled by farmers and the vast majority of farmers, he says, support the CWB's monopoly.

Dion is wrong. The Canadian Wheat Board exists under federal legislation which is controlled by elected MPs in Parliament, not farmers or Measner.

Without federal legislation, there would be no law forcing producers to sell their grain through the wheat board. The monopoly was created by Parliament, not farmers, and it can be changed by Parliament. If the public, including farmers, does not like how Parliament is handling the wheat board monopoly, they can vote them out of office. It's all very democratic.

Dion says an overwhelming majority of farmers support the CWB and its monopoly. Nobody really knows if that's true or not.

But even if it is, here's the point Dion misses:

If the vast majority of farmers support the CWB, then presumably they would continue to sell their grain through the wheat board even if it became voluntary.

If Dion's assertions are correct about wide support for the wheat board, the CWB would continue to be a viable, efficient marketer of wheat under a dual-desk system because the vast majority of farmers would stick with them.

We don't understand why the Liberals are so opposed to giving western farmers that choice. Nobody is talking about dismantling the wheat board. What's pro -posed is more choice for farmers, should they choose to sell outside the board.

If that choice is granted to farmers, it will be decided by MPs who are elected by the people. That's hardly "jeopardizing" democracy as Dion suggests.

[parsley]

The Edmonton Sun
2006.12.30

Editorial/Opinion

Fight for freedom That's what wheat board controversy is about

To understand what's really at the heart of the controversy surrounding the Canadian Wheat Board, one must focus on one word and one word only.

Freedom. It's as simple as that.

Canada is supposed to be a free society. We have - amongst many other rights and freedoms - the right to freedom of association.

The only problem is that western Canadian wheat and barley farmers have been denied that right since 1935, when the CWB was formed and participation was made mandatory.

The right to the freedom of association does not just mean you are free to form a group and meet with whomever you want.

It also means you are free to not form or belong to a particular group.

Noel Hyslip, as a Canadian citizen, should have as much right as any other Canadian to associate with whomever he pleases.

He does not. Because he lives in Western Canada and grows wheat and barley, he is a second-class Canadian citizen.

"All I want," says Hyslip, 46, from his farm in Vulcan, "is the same rights as eastern farmers. Period."

Hyslip believes so strongly in his right to his freedom of association and his freedom to do what he wants with the product he works hard to grow and harvest that he spent eight days in jail in November 2002, along with 12 other Alberta farmers for selling a small amount of his own grain into the U.S.

Federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl recently fired CWB president Adrian Measner for speaking out against the Conservative government's plan to give western farmers the choice of either marketing their grain through the wheat board or selling it themselves.

Hyslip agreed with the firing, arguing that virtually anyone would lose their job if they publicly criticized their boss in public.

True enough.

The Conservatives campaigned in last winter's general election on a promise they would make participation in the CWB voluntary.

Strahl has been clear that he does not intend to dismantle the wheat board, only that those who want out can leave.

How any fair-minded person can object to that is impossible to understand.

Even if the wheat board was doing a fabulous job getting western farmers top prices, it should still be voluntary.

But Hyslip says that's not the case.

"The wheat board is doing a terrible job marketing grain this year," says Hyslip.

Earlier this month, the wheat board held a meeting in Vulcan and informed farmers it sold 85% of all its barley in August, even before the combines started up.

The board predicts it will get farmers $3.20 per bushel for malt barley while the projected price for feed barley (which is a higher yield and lower-quality product) is $4.

Hyslip says he just sold his malt barley to a feed mill in Alberta for $3.50 a bushel, which means he will reap an extra $21,000 for his family over the board's price.

"That's why I'm fighting the wheat board. I can't afford to continue at the prices they get," says Hyslip.

Hyslip says if he could market his own wheat, he'd make an additional $20,000 on that, too.

What's more, because of the wheat board monopoly, there is very little "value added" work going on in western provinces.

"I was in Costco the other day and they're selling Ontario flour. There's no flour mills in Western Canada of any size because of the wheat board.

"That blows me away that I'm growing wheat and have to buy Ontario flour. I can't even support my own business by buying Alberta flour," adds Hyslip, who farms 3,000 acres. "I believe in freedom. I just want mine." Who can blame him?