Hon. Wayne Easter (Malpeque, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will soon have the tainted results of his discredited plebiscite with barley producers.
KPMG is now counting the numbered ballots. However, KPMG has called some producers to see which of their ballots they want counted. Canadians should know that in this vote the ballots were numbered and traceable, there was no voters list and there were no scrutineers from opposing camps.
Will the minister explain what happens to those voters that KPMG cannot reach? Or is that just the side that favours the government approach and is it the more votes the merrier?
Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, Mr. Speaker, what we do know is how the Liberal Party is going to handle this. The Leader of the Opposition was in the Prairies the other day and said he is not quite sure what he is going to do, but he has a “lot of imagination” so we should just leave it with him.
We are not leaving it with him. We are leaving it with farmers. We have asked them some clear questions in a plebiscite. Do they want barley to stay as it is? Do they want more freedom of choice?
I look forward to what they are going to have to say, because on this side of the House we respect farmers and what they have to say about the Canadian Wheat Board.
Hon. Wayne Easter (Malpeque, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition will allow farmers to have a voice, which that party has not done.
Let us review the process. Gag orders were placed on farmer-elected board members. Appointed board members were fired. The CEO was fired for standing up for producers. Now we have numbered and traceable ballots. Finally, the minister called a plebiscite but it has a fraudulent question.
Now there is evidence of multiple ballots and calls to voters from the returning officer, KPMG itself. Does the Prime Minister think this is a credible process?
Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, CPC): Mr. Speaker, if he wants to impugn the honourable integrity of KPMG, I guess he can try.
We are in contact with farmers all the time. It is a little different from when the Liberals are in charge and the Liberals deal with the Wheat Board. Farmers who want to contact people when the Liberals are in charge have to phone their lawyers because they are in jail for trying to market their own product.
However, no transcript can do justice to Wayne Easter in the way that audio can! (1.6 megs)
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This Just In: The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, will hold a news conference at the Chteau Laurier on Wednesday, March 28, (11:15 a.m., Ottawa time) to announce the results of the barley plebiscite.
ummm it’s good, “taste the freedom”
I’m not sure I quite understand what’s going on here. We have a group of bureaucrats who are sovereign unto themselves and can defy the Government of the day? Can someone explain? Did the previous government that created the WCB build in a layer of protection to isolate them from a future Government?
The LIEberals should suggest that ALL farmers in Canada should fall under the CWB. Ontario and Quebec would put an end to the CWB within a week. They love the dictoratal powres over Western Canadian farmers – no freedom of choice like the rest of the farmers in Canada.
I heard somewhere that the books of the CWB could be legaly be opened on April first – if this is true then I can see why the employees of the CWB were given a bonus of $1,000.00 at Christmas for the “stress” they were under. [You want stress – just be a farmer under the CWB.]
Liberanos are looking like the deer in the headlights every time they talk about the CWB. Esp. Wayne Easter. I don’t believe, for a split second, that it is the Western Farmers that he is concerned about….I wonder what it is? His own hide perhaps? I wonder what is in those CWB books ….
Hey Wayne, never bring a knife (dull one at that) to a gun fight.
“KPMG is now counting the numbered ballots. However, KPMG has called some producers to see which of their ballots they want counted.”
Uh Oh…aren’t these the sleazebag accountants that got caught fixing books to bury 2.5 billion of client’s money and fined 500 mil to keep them out of jail? The same KPGM that was decertified as an ISO auditor/registrar for certifying clients with no quality systems.
Yeah I trust their ballot counting.I can see the Libranos or CWB syndicate using them as accountants they fit the corporate profile of these 2 criminal orgs.
It was Strahl that hired KPMG to handle the barley plebiscite Redux. Strahl says they have his complete confidence. KPMG was hired to develop the voters list and administer the plebiscite.
My advise to Minister Strahl is to consult with the DOG WHISPERER because Strahl has the equivilant of vicious “dog” that needs controlling.
Ooooh, Smackdown! It must suck to be a Liberal these days, eh?
it is easter and we have now heard from wayne the “eastern” bunny. make the board for all producers in canada including ontario and quebec or get rid of it.
Ummmm numbered ballots??
Haven’t the Liberals used a mail in ballot before? Numbering the ballots is the easiest way to ensure against copying a ballot.
Send out 5000… if you get back 3 of #4’s then someone tried to cheat and you discount that ballot. Lots of fancy holographic or watermarks can be used, but we still get counterfeit money, cards and cheques….
I am not worried about my vote being tracked by the government,.. Nobody outside KPMG will ever see the data. And if people do then KPMG is liable.
I am rather dismayed that the voting list given to KPMG was made of several lists and rather than sort out that issue before mailing ballots they are phoning people afterwords to see which ballot they want counted. (Is there that many people that would vote differently on the extra ballots they were sent?)
Why wasn’t a proper list used instead of a hodgepodge?
The other thing that concerns me is the fact that it is a mail in ballot. Voter “turnout” is generally very low in such a ballot. I know you can make the argument that people had their chance, but the other had is having a general election in the storm we had in Saskatoon in January. People could have a chance that day too. But you would still see complaints about people not voting because of the weather.
Maybe it’ll be higher because it is a hot button issue. Maybe its only the media and the politicians who think it is a hot button issue.
I love listening to Wayne Easter. He’s the only Liberal I can listen to without getting sick to my stomach. If Wayne read the phone book aloud I’d probably laugh even harder than I did when Rick Mercer had a sleep over with Prime Minister Harper.
I believe after he’s done politics he’ll be the next person to join “This Hour Has 22 Minutes.”
That’s a good laugh when the Easter Bunny complains about censorship of the CWB during the barley vote.
About 27 years ago, I wrote my first letter demanding changes to the CWB, after we got ripped off with the Corn Competitive Pricing Policy.
About a week after my letter appeared in the Edmonton Journal, NFU representatives knocked on my door and told me not to do that again.
They told me send any future letters to them first, so they could approve them.
I told them to buy their own paper and pencil and write their own letters, if they could.
It wasn’t long after that I figured out that the whole system was rotten to the core, with all the big boys protecting themselves (even against the farmers!), and nobody was looking after the farmers.
What an absolutely great day this is for Western Canada’s agricultural industry.
Hahahaha! Great audio.
The Conservatives just have to keep hammerin’ the many flies that remain buzzing around.
At this point in history, rural Canada takes most of the credit for steering the political course of the country away from socialism…
*sigh* Wayne Easter is my MP. I really hope newly-nominated Mary Crane beats him whenever the election is called!