The Real Reason Harper Ended the Wheat Board Today [General]

2011 Nov 28
In 2007 farmers voted 62% in favour of ending the wheat board's monopoly on barley, and of course Harper was all over that like a bad suit

www.cbc.ca

Just last month farmers voted again 62% in favour of keeping the remaining wheat board monopoly, but Harper decided to ignore this vote.

www.thestar.com

Because in reality, all he wanted to do was hand a Farmer's Coop over to big business

money.ca.msn.com

2011 Nov 29
They never had a plebiscite when they imposed this abomination on the farmers in the first place, why should they have one now?

Anyway, the election results in those ridings on May 2 are a plebiscite of sorts, and we know how they voted (it wasn't orange or red).

Further, the Board isn't scrapped, it just isn't a monopoly anymore.

Finally if the big three mentioned in the msn article don't get all the farmers on board with their forward contracts, there are plenty of others who will buy the farmers' goods. The farmers have options now, something they didn't have before.

2011 Dec 2
I happen to agree with Bacon fwiw. I was looking forward to zymurgist's rebuttal. ::sigh::

2011 Dec 2
i don't care as much for the CWB as I do for supply management for some commodities (milk, eggs...) Don't think a monopoly is good for anyone. if the CWB really is the best way to go, farmers still have that option. The supply management guarantees prices for farmers. without it, you'll be eliminating the family farm and bringing in the factory farms.

2011 Dec 2
"They never had a plebiscite when they imposed this abomination on the farmers in the first place, why should they have one now?"

Imposed this abomination? Do you know anything about the origins of the CWB? There's an argument to be made against the CWB, I'm agnostic, it's up to (or rather should be left up to) Western farmers, but any discussion should at least be grounded in a reality-based account of history. The CWB was not an abomination to early 20th Century farmers, it was incredibly popular.

2011 Dec 7
The Federal Court have ruled that Ritz broke the law by not allowing the farmers to vote on the abolition of the CWB's monopoly.

www.winnipegfreepress.com

I would love to see the Government given a bloody nose on this one; the way in which they are prepared to ignore due process and shackle the media in this and other matters is terrifyingly Orwellian. I'm still upset that Ignatieff ran such a horrible campaign and cleared the way for them to get control.

2011 Dec 8
Yup, our "tough on crime" government, breaking the law. Nice.

2011 Dec 8
Maybe it's all part of their master plan - they're committing more crime to inflate the numbers to justify their new crime bill that no-one wants or needs.

How long until we can get rid of these idiots? 2015 feels like a long way away...

2011 Dec 8
You guys are hilarious. 'Orwellian' was especially rich. So this judge decided he wants to make a name for himself and invokes this obscure law that makes no sense whatsoever. The gov't needs to consult the CWB to see if they're OK with being downgraded?! lol This is comedy at its best. The thing that cracks me up the most (besides you guys' bullshit indignation) is this judge wasted 25 pages on his ridiculous decision.

One more time: the farmers were consulted...on May 2. The results cannot be disputed.

Johnny, you can forget about 2015; they're here for the long haul.

2011 Dec 8
Sweet Jeebus. Now this isn't the place for a political discussion and I assume this thread will be, rightfully, locked down soon, but honestly... Bacon why would you feel the need to comment on something you obviously don't understand in the least? The "obscure law" being referenced is the law being changed, the law that the complainant was accusing the Crown of breaking. Justice made a stupid mistake (unless the Cons just wanted to get more mileage out of this) and now they're paying for it. Opinion is split on the merit of the decision, but the situation is entirely due to government laziness. Far too much ignorance in public discussion and you're contributing to it in an awesome way.

And no, the last election was not a plebicite, full stop. These things matter.

2011 Dec 8
Yeah, clearly bacon has not got a clue what he or she is talking about.

They would not consult the Wheat Board on being downgraded, they are supposed to consult the farmers.

2011 Dec 8
I guess I don't have a clue either, then. Some interesting points of view from the farmers who are actually impacted by the decision, in a farmers' forum that I frequent.

www.agri-ville.com

Most are happy to have more options for marketing their grain (as we Eastern farmers have always had).

There may be some salty language. ;)

2011 Dec 8
No-one's disputing that some farmers would like to see an end to the monopoly, and there might be enough that do that would carry the motion. The issue is that they weren't given the option by the government that they were required to do under law; but what else would we expect from a ruling party that pulls a third world move like shutting down Parliament for three months to avoid a vote of no confidence?

2011 Dec 8
For all the left wing nuts.
www.winnipegsun.com

2011 Dec 8
I can assure you, Johnny, that MOST farmers would like to see the end of the monopoly. Monopolies are bad, non?

The rest of your post... I'm right... you're left. C'est la vie.

2011 Dec 8
interesting. coming from western canada where many friends where farmers they all did not like the wheat board. if any of you see how these (my friends) farm, they are already factory farms.

CWB needs to loose its monopoly status period. we need to loose the milk board, chicken board and turkey board. they keep prices inflated and are the culprits to the death of the factory farm.

let me take you to the dairy farm around the corner from me if you want to see a modern factory farm supported by a marketing board!

krusty,

2011 Dec 8
If the majority of farmers wanted to see the monopoly gone, why did the Harper government break the law? They could have just followed the law and let the farmers decide.

Oh, and I've been waiting for someone to play this card from that Winnipeg Sun article : " perfect example of a judge overstepping his judicial bounds and entering into the world of politics". You see, this is where the Harper government are once again hypocrites. They were quite happy to manipulate the court system (and those "overstepping" judges) in their favour to get around can-con rules when handing out licenses to new wireless providers. They gave a permit to (was it) Wind, who did not have the correct amount of can con. A judge later came out and said : boo on you Canada, you now need to change the law because you already let the horse out of the barn. Oh, they were quite happy to have that judge "overstepping" and changing the laws, when it worked in their favour.

2011 Dec 8
No-one's disputing that some farmers would like to see an end to the monopoly, and there might be enough that do that would carry the motion. The issue is that they weren't given the option by the government that they were required to do under law; but what else would we expect from a ruling party that pulls a third world move like shutting down Parliament for three months to avoid a vote of no confidence?

2011 Dec 9


No-one's disputing that some farmers would like to see an end to the monopoly, and there might be enough that do that would carry the motion. The issue is that they weren't given the option by the government that they were required to do under law; but what else would we expect from a ruling party that pulls a third world move like shutting down Parliament for three months to avoid a vote of no confidence?

Left wing template... no? Twice?

Sorry. Just a local farmer here, speaking his mind.

2011 Dec 10
"Sorry. Just a local farmer here, speaking his mind."

Must be nice!

2011 Dec 10
@Jeffyorama, re: your statement "The rest of your post... I'm right... you're left. C'est la vie."

You may be "right", but I wouldn't categorise myself as "left". I make my mind up on an issue based upon the available evidence, not what some arbitrary political position tells me I should think. The proroguing of Parliament was an indefensible move of breathtakingly cynical proportions, and anyone defending the action on the basis that it was their chosen party pulling it is basically saying that they've stopped thinking for themselves and are willing to swallow any crap that's fed to them if it comes from the right spoon.

As to your other statement, no. Monopolies are not bad per se, there are loads of examples where monopolies are a much more effective way of operating. Like I said, I don't have an especially strong view on the CWB either way, but I do have a very strong view on the country's ruling party believing that they can operate outside of the law simply to ensure that they get what they want. If they provide the farmers who constitute the membership of the CWB with the vote that they are legally required to do and that membership votes to abolish the monopoly, have at it. The fact that the government felt that it had to try and drive the legislation through without such a vote suggests that your assertion that most farmers want an end to the monopoly may be a little off beam.

2011 Dec 12
"The proroguing of Parliament was an indefensible move of breathtakingly cynical proportions"

It if quacks like a lefty, well you know the rest.

My followup point of the silliness of having to consult the CWB on their downgrading, was in response to the first paragraph of the WFP article.

Talk about dropping the ball, how about Martin and the rest of his opposition cronies not doing their own research all this time, and leaving it to this judge to dig up the article of the law.

Also, if reviewing evidence to formulate an informed opinion, feel free not to limit yourself to lefty publications like the WFP. But then, here is what the Citizen had to say on the subject, and they can hardly be characterized as conservative.

www.ottawacitizen.com

Going back to Johnny's comment about 'nobody needing or wanting' the new crime bill, when he conducted his own plebiscite, I wonder if he ventured out of Rockcliffe and Rosedale and all the other tony liberal elite neighbourhoods where any experience with criminality is limited to what they hear on TV or read about in the papers.

2011 Dec 12
Bacon the left wing nuts will never get it. They might want to watch a little Sun TV and get a different perspective on the news not just the left views that the rest of the media broadcasts. 567 on Rogers. 506 on Bell. Remember during a crime Police response time after calling 911 can be up to 20 minutes so think fast.

2011 Dec 12
I realise that it's easier for you to cling to these convenient pigeonholes of "left" and "right", and I'm not going to waste my time trying to educate you as to the concept of a slightly more complex reality.

We must all view the world through the filter of our own choosing, but I would suggest to you both that any media outlet is probably a pretty poor starting point.

I'd point out to you the inherent humorous irony of your suggestion, Ken, but I suspect you wouldn't get it.

2011 Dec 16
Less government is better government by bye Wheat board and gun registry. LOL!
www.sunnewsnetwork.ca