Only 38% voted to retain the status quo. More here;
A total of 62 per cent of just over 29,000 farmers who cast eligible ballots said they wanted the board out of the barley market altogether, or for the board to be maintained in a competitive market.
Another 38 per cent said they wanted to maintain the status quo.
A government spokesman said federal Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl will now take steps to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act to remove the barley monopoly.
Plebiscite results (PDF)
See the AAFC main page for more.
Update
“The Conservative government does not have the mandate to dismantle the Canadian Wheat Board after concocting the results of the barley plebiscite in the government’s favour.”
Fine, Ralph. Here are the results of the “Canadian Wheat Board’s annual producer survey, May 19, 2006.”
That’s right – the CWB wrote the questions.
Rutherford is talking right now about how NONE of the MSM covered this news conference. Not CBC; not CTV; not BN. Very telling.
WHOO HOOO finally a bit of freedom. This has been a long time coming.
glad to see that the farmers listened to the reports of where all their money was going, into the pockets of the CWB and not theirs….congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
glad to see that the farmers listened to the reports of where all their money was going, into the pockets of the CWB and not theirs….congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Freedom of Choice is always a good decision. I imagine Doer will go crazy now. Maybe he will join the ineffectual Wiliams-Calvert axis of evil clan.
Excellent. I will be growing lots of barley this year. Some Canola too. I will not grow crops that I have to sell through the CWB as long as the single desk is in place.
CWB employee bonus cheques ought to be printing fast and furious now….
A freedom has been restored (or soon will be) to an admittedly small segment of Canada’s population but the symbolism is huge, beyond all relation to the few individuals involved. This vote exposes the outdated shiboleths of arbitrary restrictions on free markets such as marketing boards and other in fields such as the CRTC on broadcasting, etc, etc., to restoration of freedom of choice both for individuals and individual corporations. Freedom is always worth fighting for and Kate you are a wonderful exemplar for those of us who sit back and think as long as we as individuals are not affected too much we should ignore infringements on our own or other peoples freedom. Three cheers for Kate, Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!
Great news for barley growers. Now lets have a vote on Wheat and Durum as well.
Excellent news. And good work, Kate, for constantly banging on this item. I’m sure many people gained insight from the timely posts you offered.
Now, to tackle the ‘W’ in the acronym CWB.
This is just wonderfull. A bit late for me as I am at the end of 40+ years in farming. However, my kids will benefit greatly as will others of their generation. Next is wheat. All of a sudden farming looks a lot better.
Len Pryor
Still looking for the actual numbers….
68% sounds like a liberal talking point…. (64% of people voted against the conservatives)
There was 3 questions on the ballot and 2 should not be lumped together (unless there is an admission that they are the same option and so should have been 2 questions… which means a new ballot)
Mail in ballots are notoriously low “voter turnout”. This ballot is no different.
“About 83,000 ballots were mailed out in February and votes had to be postmarked by midnight March 13 to be eligible”
“just over 29,000 farmers who cast eligible ballots”
35%…. A wonderful example of democracy
Hey barcs I bet you thinks it bites that the government is actually doing what the people voted for. As for turn out, it appears that the naysayers either couldnt be bothered or there really are only a few of them, either way RIGHT ON!!!
Give it up Barcs. The questions were clear and the results legit. You are insulting the intelligence of voting farmers. Common sense has won the day. Now lets get rid of the Wheat monopoly.
Borat Dion : da western piples specshally dos farm mars do not know waz iz good for dem . if we have liberal goov ernmant beek we give dem what day deserve and make sure is whit bored and barley bored for dem. da essern farmer is better with small farm an not maek da grin ‘ouse gizzes and wil not neeed da help of us sew mush.we fix the wessern piples farm mors for good.
“intelligence of voting farmers”
Aside from:
1. a gag order on one side’s advertising,
2. a 3 question survey reported as a 2 question result,
3. Altering the voting list after the vote: (KPMG has called some producers to see which of their ballots they want counted)
But you are right Bazoo. That is all credible and I am the one insulting voting farmers (like for example…. me) by insisting on a process that is credible when my interests are being voted on. Are we in Mexico??
Many producers were mailed 2 ballots but could only send one back, This accounts for some of the low response. I could have requested a ballot but have little at stake so declined to ask for a ballot. Will farmers who live close to Prairie Malt in Biggar now receive bigger cheque because they don’t have freighrt to Vancouver deducted from the pool price.
$2.30 a bushel for premium malt is an insult to producers.
The final payment should be huge unless the CWB pays nore demurage and bonuses.
Like I always say, Canadians are generally moderate. Not too left and not too right.
Yes, only 38% voted for only the CWB.
But only 13% voted to do away with the CWB.
Breaking it down a bit, Manitobans want only the CWB (50%), more people want only the CWB than each of the two other options in Saskatchewan and even Alberta was overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the CWB (only 15% for getting rid of the CWB).
It also shows that those who like to talk about the “west” and what the “west” wants are more often talking about what “conservatives” want or what “Alberta” wants because that is clearly not what the “west” wants… if there can be said to be any consensus about what the “west” wants.
Barcs you are insulting the intelligence of farmers by insinuating that they don’t understand the questions being asked. It is you,and single desk supporters that are misleading farmers by claiming the CWB can’t work in a free market. Farmers looked at the question and decided that the CWB can still play a role. The option of Single Desk was on the ballot, clear as day, and was not chosen by the majority of farmers. Attacking the process is all that you have left. I farm in Alberta. It won’t matter what the farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba think . If the momopoly is not ended by the Federal Government the Provincial Government will allow me market choice. What will happen to the CWB if only two provinces are under the monopoly?
Isn’t it funny that the largest plurality voted for the CWB to compete with other companies. A option that will not be faciliated by Canada’s Crappy Governement. It seems that most want the board to stay, just competition.
Since, this seems to not be a possibility shouldn’t they have a revote based on all or nothing ?
What kind of turnout is 35%?
The kind of turnout that is better than some cities get voting for their own mayor, that’s what.
barcs
I’m sure KPMG manipulated the results, there is no doubt about it.
After all they have so much to lose in worldwide credibility that they wanted to sacrifice it all for the sake of only a bunch of Canadian farmers.
So now the gov’t puts the CWB on the stock exchange and sells shares to farmers to raise the capital needed for infrastruture? Wasn’t that the plan in their report? It’s been a while since I read it.
Mayor Quimby: Pay attention. That is exactly the option that the Government is proposing.
Bazoo
1. I never said anything about how farmers would read or perceive the questions. They are clear (as long as they are reported and acted on as 3 questions,… its politicians and media I don’t have faith in)
2. I am not a single desk supporter. I am attempting to be a voice of reason. I have told people here before that I do not expect to make gains or losses on whether we have an open market or (the current) monopoly. I have therefore feel I have little to gain/lose. (and I didn’t vote for the single-desk option)
3. The process that I am attacking. ***Is flawed.*** Don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes and tell me that papa Strahl will make it all better. Even my 10 year old cousin knows you don’t alter voters lists after a vote and before reporting results.
*
The CWB is unstable under the conservatives. Whether I support it or not is irrelevant to my business as things stand today. I have lost enough money in unstable companies as they try to startup. The decision on my farm was made last fall to plant as much non-board crops as we could to limit our risk as it applies to the CWB debate. No matter the result of this survey the CWB will remain unstable for several years.
That is what is wrong with this vote. That is the damage done to mine… and to your business. Keeping it or doing away with it in the long term doesn’t matter,.. you and I will not get much more or less,…. except in the short term market instability. (where I am guaranteed to get less)
*
And for the record *you* can stop insulting farmers intelligence by telling them that everything is rosy as of this second and not one of us will lose even a penny in the conversion.
Bozo- some how, after equalization, I can’t quite belive that. It seems that this government is hell bent on “Reform”ing anything there ideology disagrees with, no matter how pragmatic or profitable.
Who do you think has been keeping this albetros alive for years now….the western canadian farmer thats who!!
Who do you think is paying the demurage and the bonus’es. the western canadian farmer, thats who.
Put every farmer in the damn thing east and west and it will be dead in a week! or less!
Have at it Chuck…you have my support!
I’m in s/e sask and i can sell my malt barley for feed and get more than the cwb got for it as malt….and i should stay in the cwb?…. RIGHT!
Barcs: I did not ever, in any post, say that all is rosy. Farmers know the market and the risks. Leave us alone to go about our business. I do not presume to tell you how to run your farm operation. All that I ask is the same consideration.
Farmers have spoken, now it is time for opposition to listen and respect the wishes of farmers. Farmers and the Federal government are the ones that set the mandate and direction of the CWB……..not Wayne Easter, not NFU, not Ralph, and not Ken Ritter. A new mandate is about to be given and the CWB ( Including it’s directors ) have a legal obligation to follow that mandate and order. It would be nice if the opposition to democracy for farmers would finally respect the law and Farmers.
Yeah Ted, sort of like the Libs talking about Canadian values.
It’s kind of telling how close it really was everywhere but in Alberta.
Spin, spin, spin.
Some think it’s flawed, but I think it’s perfectly legitimate. Do farmers want no CWB, CWB monopoly, or the CWB as an option? You could lump 2 questions together either way–say that 62.2% of farmers want the CWB not to be forced upon them (my take on it); or you could say that 86.2% of farmers want the CWB kept. (Of course, that last one ignores the fact that 48.4/86.2, or 56% of those who want to keep the CWB, want not to be forced to use it.) But I think it’s clear: farmers don’t want the CWB crammed down their throats.
Barcs: “…*you* can stop insulting farmers intelligence by telling them that everything is rosy…”
You’re right Barcs, things aren’t even a light shade of pink for grain farming in Western Canada. Input prices keep rising through the roof, investing in equipment is like buying 24k gold bricks that rust away, the average age of a farmer is getting akin to the time of Noah with few young’ns taking up the plough and nobody can sell their land for a fair price because nobody wants it.
Farming is in big trouble and it’s not just because of the anti-competition policies of Western Canada’s monopoly grain marketer. But giving intelligent people like farmers choice on how to sell their produce is a fix long overdue.
Endowing a single entity with such huge financial influence over thousands of farming businesses (and daily lives) is just plain wrong. Nobody can deny that such a monopoly has huge potential for bureacratic complacency, waste, fraud and political abuse. The power to sell should belong solely to those individual businesses that take all the risks…not some guys in grey suits patting backsides at a Winnipeg Liberal fundraiser.
It won’t be enough to save the family farm but the CWB isn’t doing the farm any favors by remaining in total control. If the deal the CWB’s been giving farmers has been so great over the years than they can certainly withstand competition.
Congratulations to our farmers on the barley vote. It’s a smart step in the right direction.
to ralph goodale, ken ritter, wayne easter and borat dion, heh heh heh GOODBYE
15.2 percent of Albertan farmers probably signed in blood like the old “Saddam ballots”. Leftists will undoubtedly still think there’s a chance of reversing all this even after grain starts being sold on the free market.
Go farm in North Korea Barcs…
38% voted to retain the status quo? Isn’t that better than Harper’s support in the last election?
How can one resist making that observation?
BTW, I have no strong view on the CWB.
38% voted to retain the status quo? Isn’t that better than Harper’s support in the last election?
How could I resist?
I have no strong view on the CWB.
What the hell is wrong with the 50.6 majority of Manitoban farmers???
Seriously…
At least Saskachewan’s 45.1% majority was expected.
Can this be an issue that triggers an election?
Barcs, I am not even a farmer and still see this as a win-win situation. If the CWB is as good as you say it will still thrive and prosper in an open market system. It is the CHOICE that adds value here!! I think all farmers will benefit from this and if the CWB is the best place to market, it will retain the majority of the market.
Please take Ralphie G of the radio continuously talking about equalization. And what did he do about it.
Just sick of this.
We should be thankful for what we have.
If the NDP would stop paying “men for harrassing women” and other “parties who have screwed up this province” we will be fine.
“Knight of Good Mr. Iron Man” –> you are about as tolerant as a liberal….
and breezer:
“If the CWB is as good as you say it will still thrive and prosper in an open market system.”
Good luck. In a business with so much risk built in already you will be able to watch people cross the street to deal with a more stable company. Even if the CWB comes up with a good transference to the open market and a good system it will be years before many people think of them as a stable option.
Many farmers will face the fact: It is just not worth the added risk.
(And I don’t also I don’t recall saying the CWB is great,… just trying to put some balance and some realism in the issue)
Not being a farmer I have one question, that I never heard anyone talk about in manitoba and that is, if the CWB is so good why isn’t the rest of the canadian farmers forced into it?
thanks Mike
Wayne Easter can take these results and stick in his pipe and smoke’m! Maybe that little annoying man will sit down and STFU for awhile. His voice is as irritating as Annie get your gun!
“Not being a farmer I have one question, that I never heard anyone talk about in manitoba and that is, if the CWB is so good why isn’t the rest of the canadian farmers forced into it?
thanks Mike”
Because Ontario and Quebec farmers would not put up with a system like the CWB.
Mike.
1. Ontario and Quebec (and eastwards) are relatively irrelevant as far as wheat quantity’s go.
2. Ontario used to have its own wheatboard
3. I don’t know why the 2 were never joined, I have the feeling it was east/vs/west politics. Most of Canada’s milling companies were down east at the time afterall.
Freedom is a frightening thing because it means one must become responsible for one own destiny. Barcs is not unlike the those indoctrinated into the communists system who were terrified of change during the USSR’s collapse. People like Barcs want their freedom and worse yet, others freedom revoked so they could return to the safety of a Government paycheck.
Freedom is a high on the pyramid of human needs and is a crucial part of what it means to be human. That is why people like Barcs are doomed to fail as people always overcome their fears eventually and find the courage to set themselves free.
Bravo to all you farmers who voted to free yourselves!
Barcs,
You don’t really believe your own BS, do you?
Atleast as much as you or albertaman believe in yours…
I am interested tho… where am I an advocate for communism…. did you actually read anything I wrote? or did you just pickup on the fact that I am not ideologically bound somewhere to the right of Republicans and assume that I am therefore a left wing whacko??