Via email;

[H]ere is the link to the Sask Youth Summit. This “conference” scheduled for this weekend may be similar to the Centennial Summit in early ’05 where the gov’t pulled together “sask stakeholders” that no one in the non-New Dem community knew very well! I liked the “speak up” link — interesting political discussion where everytime someone knocks the NDP, an earnest post appears and trots out suspiciously government-like factoids and speech bullets.

Indeed – the comments by this youth (site search) are outstandingly informative and progressive, in a “here’s the brochure” sort of way.
The saskyouthsummit.ca domain is owned by the Saskatchewan government.

You can find the communications document on the NDP’s Saskatchewan! campaign here. (or scroll down to Jan.26).
Whoops – should have included the link to CKOM.

And how does a mining company become an accredited Canadian Wheat Board exporter?


Eagle Sterling is listed as a mining company at a site that appears to catalogue Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce * members. Note that the phone and fax number here differ from those provided by the CWB.

I failed to find any other reference to Eagle Sterling in the context of mining[1] – or anything else. Others are invited to try. The Quebec phone number provided by the CWB produces no other hits. (There was no answer when I called, and I request readers not to try, as it may be a private residence.)
You’ll notice that the CoC info shows Gordon Machej as the contact person for Eagle Sterling, with a link to “irianaresources.com”. Credit Risk Monitor shows Mr. Machej to be Chief Financial Officer and Director of the inactive mining company, Iriana Resources.
[MORE: An old article on Canadian mining and wheat exports to Indonesia bring mention of Iriana here. In June 21, 2004, Polaris Geothermal Inc.amalgamated with Iriana and continues under Polaris Geothermal’s name]
Both eaglesterling.com and irianaresources.com domains are registered at Network Solutions under “Eagle Sterling Co. Limited Partnership” utilizing a privatizing registry service. Neither resolves to an active website.
It took a search on the fax number provided by the CWB to arrive at the Malchy Grain Company Ltd. listing at the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, where Mr. Machej is named as a contact. And that’s when we discover both enterprises share an address at Suite 975 – 167 Lombard Avenue. (He’s also administrative contact for malchygrain.com.)
[MORE – I’ve been informed that company founder William B. Malchy died September 21, 2000]
And sure enough – Malchy Grain Company Ltd. does appear among the companies listed as CWB “Accredited Canadian Exporters” – but you have to consult the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada government website to find that out. Eagle Sterling Co. Limited does not..

Now, for the rest of the puzzle (November 4, 1997) ;

Mr. Lorne Hehn (Chief Commissioner, Canadian Wheat Board): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have with me this morning two members from the wheat board. Mr. Gordon Machej has been with the board for some 26 years and has been a commissioner of the board for the last 7 years. I also have Mr. Ward Weisensel with me. Ward currently heads up our policy group at the wheat board. Both these gentlemen will be participating in the question and answer period.

Craig Docksteader, December 25, 2000;

But for former CWB Commissioners Lorne Hehn, Richard Klassen, and Gordon Machej, this January 1 is more significant than usual. After leaving the CWB, all three were handed a severance package worth a quarter of a million dollars, on the condition that they would not work in the grain trade in a competitive position with the CWB for two years. January 1, the two years are up, and the former Commissioners can go to work for whoever they want.

So, now that we know who Gordon Machej is, it’s time to ask the obvious.
Why has the Canadian Wheat Board gone to such lengths to bury Malchy Grain Company Ltd. under the identity of a mining enterprise owned by a former CWB Commissioner?
(A big tip of the hat to this anonymous commentor.)
Footnote:
[1] I did find mining references under a numbered company 4270828 Manitoba Ltd. that appears to be owned by a “Gordon and April Machej”.
The real questions (from the comments)

1) Was there an attempt to hide what a former Commissioner was doing? If so, why?
2) How much farmer’s grain has been sold through this company, to where and why?
3) What does this accredited exporter bring to the table – he has no grain handling assets, no international trading offices to save the CWB travelling expenses. What is it?

In Canadian politics, it seems some days that if somebody you hear about doesn’t work for somebody you know, they’re married to him.
At the pro-CWB Winnipeg Free Press, their favourite pollster (and brother-in-law of former Manitoba Liberal Leader Paul Edwards) sounds the alarm on the barley plebiscite wording;

Scott MacKay, president of Probe Research said the language the Conservatives are using for the three options on the barley vote are not only inconsistent but also far from neutral.
In particular, MacKay said he finds it strange that the second option for farmers — the vision for the CWB favoured by Strahl — is described in the first person unlike the other two.
MacKay said the wording of that option (I would like the option to market my barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer) makes it more personal and a potentially warmer option.

Because only pollsters understand that – despite immersion in decades of pro and con arguments, despite the natural human desire to act in their own self-interest – grain producers possess the attention span of chickens, rendering opinions informed through direct personal experience in investment, risk, cultivation, and marketing of their own grain uniquely vulnerable to “diabolical” intellectual subversion through what is known in the industry as the “Question Asked in the First Person.”
“Intellectual dishonesty” is also the topic for this Kevin Hursh lecture. His recent client list* includes the Canadian Wheat Board;

According to Chuck Strahl, farmers can have their cake and eat it too. The barley plebiscite is designed to make the number 2 option seem the most appealing. It states, “I would like the option to market my barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer.” Strahl obviously thinks a majority of farmers will choose this option on the ballet. He says the board will be there for farmers. Those who say this is the end of the board are fear mongering, says Strahl. What the Agriculture Minister doesn’t seem to realize is that economics rules. Whether you’re a board supporter or not, you sell your product where you think the return will be the greatest. Without elevators or port facilities, the Canadian Wheat Board will not be in a good position to offer the best return. Open markets have many advantages. Especially in barley, an open market may be a good alternative. But it’s misleading to pretend that the Wheat Board option will remain viable in that sort of marketing system. Chuck Strahl can say that the Wheat Board will be there for farmers, but why would farmers deal with the Wheat Board if it can’t provide competitive returns? A barley plebiscite is a good idea, but the results are going to be badly skewed by the intellectually dishonest approach to the questions..

“Why would farmers deal with the Wheat Board if it can’t provide competitive returns?” Indeed! It’s an argument that dovetails convincingly into the critic warnings of “demise of the wheat board in the face of stiff competition from private grain companies”.
Which brings me to this week’s Last Laugh Award, presented to Agricore United;

In the midst of the plebiscite on the CWB’s monopoly regarding barley sales,
Agricore posted prices they would pay for feed barley . . . if they could buy it from farmers.

On Thursday, Agricore’s spot feed barley price was C$233.70 ($198) a tonne, basis Vancouver, 23 percent higher than the Canadian Wheat Board’s projected pool return of C$190 a tonne, basis Vancouver.*

Naturally, the CWB fought back . . . not by raising their prices, but with a media reply.

The Board

…can’t use the excuse that it had made lower priced sales earlier in the year – there are two pooling periods for feed barley, with the B Pool running from February 1 to July 31. It can’t say that the bottom is likely to fall out of the feed market. According to the CWB’s PRO announcement from Thursday, “Global feed grain prices are expected to receive support from the U.S. corn market well into 2007, with U.S. corn ending stocks expected to be at the lowest level since 1995-96.” If that is the case, why the huge disparity between sales that can be made now, today, at this moment, and the price it says it can deliver to farmers? Why not attract grain to the B Pool to meet this demand? A cynic might say that the Board just wants to make sure that its feed price stays below its malt price. The Board does not want to admit that it hasn’t done the best job of marketing farmers barley. But we already know that; the evidence is plain as day.
The board has cultivated its image as a protector of Canadian farmers. If this is protection, being ‘sheltered’ from high prices, then count me out.

Through all of this, the CWB board of directors has managed to remain below the fray, and conduct themselves with the professional maturity of teenage girls – “Strahl orders wheat board to pay its new CEO”.
Both Truth About Marketing Choice and Designated Area focus on the CWB debate, and are worth bookmarking, as is the pro-choice Barley Vote 2007 website.

A sneak peek into the Rebranding of the Saskatchewan! New Democrats!

Creative Guidelines (pdf)
Our Future is Wide Open, people! And on our dime!
Dean In Regina has the email from Jeff Bohach, Executive Director to “all communications directors”.

More at CBC. The $1.5 million exclamation mark “is for “optimistic” messages and not for announcements concerning coroners’ inquests, forest fires or West Nile virus outbreaks”

.

David Anderson, MP for for Cypress Hills – Grasslands.

In previous prairie-wide polls, Manitoba farmers repeatedly scored the highest in ther support for the monopoly – option one above. In 2005, an Ipsos Reid poll showed that 65% of Manitoba farmers supported the monopoly while 2% voted for an open market without the CWB and 34% supported a dual market. This compared with 48% support for the monopoly in Saskatchewan and 38% in Alberta.
This time, however, the Manitoba plebiscite was expected to score even higher in favour of the monopoly. Not because support for the monopoly has increased, but because the Manitoba government eliminated option three – a voluntary CWB – from the ballot.
Instead, the plebiscite question gave the two following options:
1. I wish to maintain the ability to market all wheat, with the continuing exception of feed wheat sold domestically, through the CWB single desk system.
2. I wish to remove the single desk marketing system from the CWB and sell all wheat through an open market system.
Producers had to choose between the same two options for barley.
According to the Manitoba government, the ballot question was developed by a coalition of four farm groups, and was designed to “avoid misleading phrases” and allow producers to choose between “realistic choices”. It should come as no surprise, that since the four farm groups all support the CWB’s monopoly, “marketing choice” was not considered a “realistic choice”.

It’s hard to believe an NDP government in the same city in which the majority of nearly 500 CWB employees are headquartered would do such a thing.

Questions arise about how much support the strike enjoys within the membership.

[O]ne of the intriguing things about this strike is how much grumbling there has been from union members since that strike vote — a vote in which 75 to 80 per cent, according to sources, didn’t even participate.
While the union’s leadership has rightfully maintained that any vote has to be based on those who showed up, it’s also hard to ignore the complaints that have emerged about how difficult it was for some members to vote while other members received “special treatment.” (One frequent complaint is that while most had to trek down to SGEU headquarters or other locations to cast their strike ballots, corrections workers didn’t.) Other signs of dissension in the ranks include grouching over the “special levy” imposed on members to compensate the guards who have been out for the entire three weeks.

An open thread for SGEU members, if you’re so inclined – there’s no need to reveal your identity. Or if you prefer, send an email (include SGEU in the subject line) and I’ll post your comments on your behalf.

As central Saskatchewan continues to dig out from this thing, a few readers have sent photos. Some of the best are here. Most of the weather geeks have agreed that it’s the worst such event since 1955. (Three people lost their lives – all of them after leaving their stranded or rolled vehicles.)
I finished my own shoveling yesterday by tackling the driveway. It was as deep as my hip in some places, thanks to the caragana hedge. This is old fashioned blizzard snow – not the fake fluffy stuff. It’s hard packed and comes apart in the shovel in big, heavy chunks. It reminds me of a winter when I was still small enough to ride the Shetland pony – the drifts were about 8 feet high in the windbreak west of the farm that winter, and I could ride him across their tops.
Despite being featured by Peter Mansbridge a few nights ago under the subtitle of “Canada’s Weird Weather”, there’s nothing out of the ordinary in any of the weather we’ve seen this year. Not in my experience, at least. I was reminded of a piece that was published about 20 years ago in our local history book (one of many that were published at the time). I’m going to quote a portion of The Post War Era, by Chick Childerhose, for historical context and typing exercise.

Springtime. In the Saskatchewan I remember, May was my month. That was when the snow began to melt, the ground slowly reappeared and water flowed into the low-lying places. Imagine a sunny day in early May, 1947, Jack Purdy had opened his beer parlor for business and the early “regulars” had gathered. Discussion on world, national, and local problems was abruptly suspended by a shout from the door: “Hey! There’s a bunch of guys from Carlyle punching through the big drift at Ritchie Askins’.”
The ten-mile stretch of Highway 13 between Carlyle and Arcola had been closed since before Christmas. Now, according to our wild-eyed informant, the yeomen of Carlyle had decided to open it. They had shoveled their way thorough nine miles of drifts and now their convoy of cars and pickup trucks was stalled a mile short of their goal: Arcola.
A madness fell upon us. Whether it was the beautiful spring day and we were “cabin-fever” victims about to be let out of the cabin… I do not know., Yes, I do: it was those guys from Carlyle! They had snuck up on us. They were planning to drive right into Arcola and jeer at us for having to be dug out of hibernation. A rescue, sort of, by better men. The shame, the shame! The Carlyle guys must not be allowed to open our road. This is what caused the near-hysterical abandonment of the beer emporium. Shovels and transportation were what we needed.
Did I mention that the drift in front of Ritchie Askins’ place was 12 feet high? It was. But we couldn’t get to it until we had shovelled our way through a half-mile of four-foot deep, hard-packed drifts that got deeper the close we got to Askins’ driveway. By the time we arrived there, it looked like we were digging a tunnel. Actually, it was a large trench. Only four of us could work at the snow-face. The snow was so hard that we had to cut and lift it out in blocks. These were thrown on the road behind us, and were reshoveled by the second team up onto the banks. A third team rested in relays.
It was during one of my team’s rest periods that the thought occured: What if it was all a joke and there were no Carlyle guys? For so deep and formidable was the snow mountain in front of us, that no sounds of digging could be heard from the other side. I scaled the height and trekked across the top and there they were! First I saw the line of mud-encrusted vehicles, then as I got closer to the edge, the shovellers. Cries and curses. Jokes and taunts. Hilarity. For the madness was on them too, you see.
It took another four hours before the giant snow drift was pierced and then widened enough to permit passage by cars and trucks. We had done it! The road to Carlyle was open! Winter was officially over. Yay! And did we invite our Carlyle “guests” back to town for a beer? Hell no… we left them to complete their quixotic race to Arcola where they drove without stopping to our beer parlor. We piled into our cars and trucks and high-balled it through the incredible mud, slush, water, ruts and remaining snowdrifts to Carlyle. Of course! Straight to their beer parlor.

This essay by publisher Morris Dorosh is reprinted with permission from the Dec. 18, 2006 issue of Agriweek.

In politics it is not the truth that counts. It is what people can be made to believe. If enough people believe it, it becomes the truth. If a thing is repeated often enough and energetically enough, no matter whether it is true or not, people will usually begin to believe it and then it becomes the truth. People are more inclined to believe what they want to believe instead of inconvenient truths, generally things that fit their prejudices, habits and outlooks. Different people can observe the same facts and come to completely opposite conclusions. Supporters of one point of view are routinely appalled by the inability of holders of another point to see the truth as they see it.
Politics sucks. The western grain marketing situation is pure 100% politics. It really sucks.
The following statements are verifiable facts. The Canadian Wheat Board is a government agency because the Government of Canada owns its assets and is responsible for its liabilities. The Wheat Board is not a corporation unless it is a crown corporation because it is owned by the government. If it were a corporation but not a crown corporation it would have shareholders. If it had shareholders they would not elect directors on the basis of one vote per person but on the basis of one vote per share.
The Canadian Wheat Board does not obtain any price premium for wheat and barley, since any farmer can take almost any sample to almost any elevator in North Dakota and be offered a better price than that promised by the Wheat Board.
The Canadian Wheat Board is not controlled by farmers because its directors, elected and appointed alike, serve at the discretion of the federal cabinet. If it were not so the directors of the Canadian Wheat Board would have it in their power to expose the taxpayers of Canada to liabilities of billions of dollars without responsibility nor accountability to the taxpayers.
The duty of the minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board is to represent, and especially to protect, the interests of the only shareholder this peculiar entity has.
These are facts. No director elections and no number of press releases blizzarded by the Wheat Board propaganda contraption can change them. Nothing gives those directors passionately obsessed by their monopoly power any license to continue to thwart the intentions or authority of their owner.

Continue reading →

Canadian Press quotes (among others) Art Macklin, a former wheat board director;

“We had a surplus in durum for the last two or three years,” says Macklin, who operates a mixed farm in northern Alberta. “If the wheat board had not regulated the supply into that market, we would have driven down prices.
“That’s exactly what will happen if the big companies control the market and we have a surplus,” he said. “They will not manage supply for the benefit of producers. The weakest seller will then set the price.”

Except that….

Peterson said the current Canadian domestic milling quote from Thunder Bay is listed at $6.45/bushel (U.S. funds) while last year the price was just $4.85. At Minneapolis, cash price for durum is $6.35/bushel while a year ago it was $4.70. “So there’s a parallel movement in both markets,” he said. “It’s interesting to compare their price with what they actually pay the Canadian producer,” he said. “The projected pool returns – what comes back to the Canadian producers – is only 36 cents higher while the export price is $1.60 higher. It doesn’t add up. “The fact that the pool outlook has been slow to respond indicates to me the CWB has made some aggressive sales,” he continued. “What they’re projecting at year end, after rail freight charges, is about $4 per bushel U.S.” Another oddity is that the Canadian spring wheat price projection is higher than it is for durum. In the U.S., durum has moved up to a premium to spring wheat.

The Idaho Wheat Commission thinks there’s “no wonder some customers are supportive”.

Mr. Mohamed Kacem, the Director General of OAIC (the Algerian state trading organization involved in wheat and durum production, handling and imports), recently told an Algerian newspaper that CWB provides the Algerian office with a series of guarantees and benefits that are not to be found anywhere else. “… (CWB’s) selling prices in Algeria are very low, since our country benefits from preferential prices,” Mr. Kacem said. “This preferential price saves Algeria several tens of dollars per tonne purchased. No other country gives us such benefits.”
We’re sure Canadian durum growers, who’ve been told the CWB returns premium prices to them, will be happy to know that they bought their market share in Algeria at a cost of “tens of dollars per tonne.” The CWB calls this “marketing.”

h/t to Larry Weber and reader Dennis

This was the view out my windshield for much of today.



Looks like the SGEU picked a bad day to quit plowing snow.
Jan 9 Update – with a blizzard forecast for much of the top half of the province, CUPE is putting snowplow drivers back out on the road. Good call, folks.

Wendy Holm is a “award-winning agrologist, economist and journalist “

In any regulated sector, there are always a few dissidents who get a lot of print by insisting their freedoms have been curtailed. Supply management farmers are familiar with this. In the case of grains, the strategy has been to hang an important name around their neck and to hit the media running. Makes the public think even farmers are divided. In fact, with an estimated membership of fewer than 400, the Western Canada Wheat Growers Association represents less than one percent of grain farmers.
Make no mistake, Strahl’s unprecedented and unacceptable attack on the rights of Western Canadian wheat and barley growers will destroy the CWB. Without central desk selling, the prairie farmers of Western Canada will be easy pickings for the highly concentrated transnational grain corporations.
If government can wreak this policy abuse upon Canada’s grain growers, no commodity sector is safe.
Stand up for Canada’s farmers. Tell Chuck Strahl that a politician that doesn’t respect the rights of Canada’s farmers does not have the support of his constituents.

And where does Wendy Holm live?

The Holm Team
RR #1, HP – 8, Bowen Island,
British Columbia,
Canada V0N 1G0

That’s right. British Columbia has freedom for select farmers. It is like farmers in Ontario and Quebec. Why are they not “standing up” to get in the Canadian Wheat Board?
Maybe Ms. Holm should urge you to “stand up” to force Creston, BC farmers back into the CWB desginated area – the very same Creston, BC farmers who fought to get out…

From Agri-post, December 29,2006

Bill Toews says it was not an easy decision but he stands with his choice.
Toews is one of the Directors of the Canadian Wheat Board that voted in favour of giving employees of the CWB a $1000 bonus this Christmas.
He says that he knew it might not be a popular decision but he thinks it will turn out to be a good business decision.
“The employees of the Board were under a great deal of stress,” he says. “this was intended to help with that and to keep the employees with the Board. It is no secret some employees are looking elsewhere with the uncertainty that has surrounded the future of the Canadian Wheat Board.”
Toews says that the cost of the bonus amounts to “about 4 or 4 1\2 cups of coffee per farmer and that is not a great deal.”
He anticipates questioning from farmers as to why they did not receive cheques to alleviate their stress in the past two crop years.
“I see the books of the Board, and the employees are doing a good job, and they were ahead of target for sales this year. The farmers are getting their bonus in the price they receive for their grain they don’t get individual cheques but they get their returns.”
Toews also knows he is going to face tough questions from farmers about the announcement only a couple of days after the final returns were announced for the previous crop year, and were lower then some expected.
“The bonuses will come out of the 2006-7 crop year,and have no effect on the final payments that were announced recently,” he says.

Via Rolf Penner, who writes;

The first thing I thought reading it was this is the ‘beer and popcorn’ defence with a ‘double-mocha latte twist, Bill Toews meets Scott Reid.
The second was what ‘targets’ is Toews referring too? All summer farmers across the prairies have been tracking prices .50 cents to a buck a bushel higher across the border than what the board offered and now are seeing the price of feed wheat getting close to that of high quality milling wheat. Add into the mix the fact that we are at 25 year lows in global wheat stocks and this so-called monopoly still can’t get us premiums, its the farmers who have a legitimate right to be stressed at another $500,000.00 of their money being used for political theatrics.
Somehow, I don’t think telling them to do without their morning cup of coffee for a week will do much for farmers stress levels. Just a hunch.

.

We have another pro-Wheat Board “independent farmer” spotting in media! Via reader “Dennis”;

In today’s Winnipeg Free Press, page B10, there is a story about a poll taken in Winnipeg regarding the wheat board. Prominent in the story is a photo and some quotes from “Starbuck area farmer Chuck Fossay”, who is quoted as approving of the single desk, and whom the article describes as “…not giving up hope.”
Mr. Fossay says, “There’s always the possibility of a federal election in the new year too. Stephan Dion said he supports the single-desk system, he’s willing to let farmers decide…”

If you don’t know anything about Chuck Fossay, it seems as if the article considers it too much of a chore to help you out. However, Chuck happens to be a neighbor of mine. He’s a past Vice-President of Keystone Agricultural Producers, an organization that is well-known for its vociferous support of the single desk, and who counts the Canadian Wheat Board as a “generous sponsor” of the organization. (This info can be found on the KAP website). At present, Chuck Fossay sits on KAP’s grains and oilseeds committee.

EE, I, EE, I, O!

The article, as well, did not ask Mr. Fossay if he had any political affiliations. While I don’t think he holds any official title in the Liberal Party of Canada, I do know that in the last federal election he was seen touring with the Liberal candiate in Portage-Lisgar. The Free Press might have at least asked.

Or maybe they already knew – it’s not as though references to Mr. Fossay are hard to find.
And while we’re on the topic of the curious incuriousity of today’s journalists, this email from Tamara King was received by a reader who pointed out that the “independent farmer” she quoted at a pro-CWB event in this Winnipeg Sun item just happens to be President of the Brandon-Souris Liberal Riding Association;

Thanks for your email. Apologies for the delayed reply; I work shifts. I was made aware of your email today.
The term “independent” producer was meant to show that he’s not the head of a large corportation.
That’s what he told me, so that’s what I wrote.
I would like to point out – I did include the detail about him attending that Grit gathering, which shows he’s political.
Apologies if those elements came across poorly.
As a news reporter – one who covers crime, mostly – I was simply trying to convey what occured at Dion’s stop in Winnipeg, not make a wider commentary on the future of the industry.
Regards,
Tamara King

“That’s what he told me, so that’s what I wrote.”
You know, I think that would look really nice on a plaque.
Update Another incurious journalist – Bill Doskosh of CTV comments on the breakup of the Australian Wheat Board monopoly – a factoid he only stumbled across on Dec.23rd. He doesn’t let lack of familiarity interfere with conspiracy mongering, however;

Hmm, so another Conservative government in the Land Down Under — one whose leader is close to Prime Minister Stephen Harper — wants to end the monopoly of the Australian Wheat Board? And the Conservative government of Canada, whose leader is close to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, wants to end it here?

Doskosh displays no apparent knowledge of the AWB involvement in paying millions kickbacks to the Saddam Hussein regime under the UN Oil-For-Food scam. or that it’s the fallout from the scandal that has prompted the move.
Well, Canadian journalism as a whole has been curiously incurious about the UN scandal, so Doskosh’s ignorance is to be expected, I guess. Perhaps the idea of investigating all those Canadian connections at the highest levels of the UN, (and their relationships to certain Liberal prime ministers) was just so overwhelming they didn’t know where to begin.

For those who’ve been following the Wheat Board debate, I ran across this blast from the past this weekend.
At its 1975 annual meeting, the Saskatchewan Conference of the United Church voted “to absolutely condemn inland terminals.”

full size
John Clark, editor of United Grain Growers’ Grainews wrote;

“things must be different in United Church Sunday Schools today from when I was a kid. In those days, the Kamsack Sunday School teacher (an RCMP constable and hockey coatch) used to threaten benching us the next five hockey games if we didn’t ‘pay attention’ … But I’ll bet kids pay attention nowadays. The threat isn’t Hell. It’s inland terminals.”

Weyburn Inland Terminal 30 years later.
Cartoon and exerpt from Just A Bunch Of Farmers. (Exerpts)

Big tip ‘o the hat to Maz2 for another another “independent farmer” spotting in the media coverage of the Wheat Board controversy.
This one corralled Tamara King, for the Winnipeg Sun

Liberal staffers insisted invitations for farmers to meet with Liberal politicians were sent out last week — well before Measner’s dismissal.
Meanwhile, one independent Manitoba farmer warns food costs could rise if the wheat board is eliminated.
“We need to save the wheat board single desk,” said Andrew Dennis at Dion’s stop.
Dennis, who owns a farm about 50 kilometres from Brandon, believes ending the wheat marketing monopoly serves only large grain companies, eating into the ability of average farmers to compete in the market.

There’s an Andrew Dennis on the list of ex-officio delegates to the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention. He’s President of the Brandon-Souris Liberal Riding Association.
EE, I, EE, I, O !
letters@wpgsun.com
tking@wpgsun.com
Previous: Canadian Press quotes “independent” farmer Daryl Knight.

A well-connected tipster writes;

I received a tip from what I consider an excellent source this morning that Measner is also set to receive an extremely generous golden handshake from the Board that was part of his contract. He apparently had been told this by CWB director Ken Ritter previously in a conversation. Ritter was saying Measner wouldn’t care if he was fired by the gov’t because of the sweet deal. Perhaps there was method to his antagonistic approach to Strahl? This, like the bonuses, has nothing to do with Strahls ‘office and was arrived at when Measner got the position. I’ve been told it’s in the millions…

Unconfirmed, of course. If anyone out there has any inside info on this, send me a private email.
First response (that was fast!)

Unless something has changed from the CWB Board, last figure I knew of was his salary is roughly $300,000 / year and severance would be 2.5 times, roughly $750,000.
The President is appointed by the Governor in Council but remuneration is set by the Board of directors. CWB Act section 3.09 1 and 2 (b).

(Bumped to top with update. Scroll down for response from Canadian Press)
G&M;

“We have a democratic process, and the government is jeopardizing this democratic process. It’s an additional reason why we must condemn what the government is doing,” Mr. Dion said.
There is unity in maintaining the monopoly on western wheat and barley, he said, and even Quebec producers supported the body.

Well, that’s going to strike a chord with western farmers.
Update – Michelle Macafee of the Canadian Press manages to find a real, live, Manitoba farmer enthused about Stephane Dion;

Daryl Knight, who farms near Decker, Man., said he was impressed by Dion’s position on both agriculture and the environment.
“He seems like he wants the whole country to work together, and that’s a refreshing change because agriculture was never mentioned in the past,” said Knight. “Now we’re part of the country, which makes me pretty happy and proud.”

Bob Tarantino;

I’m bored, it’s 10:10pm on your dial, so I figure, what the hell, lets Google Daryl Knight ….

I’ve emailed Michelle Macafee and offered her the opportunity to respond.
Update

Dear Ms. McMillan,
Thank you for your e-mail regarding Michelle MacAfee’s story earlier this week on Stephane Dion and the Wheat Board. You’re right – Ms. MacAfee didn’t realize that Daryl Knight had been a Liberal campaign manager in the last election. She did ask Mr. Knight if he was a Liberal supporter and he told her only that he had voted Liberal in the last “couple of elections.” So she was aware of his political leanings and therefore CP was comfortable quoting him in that context. But more to your point: if we had known he was a campaign manager, we would have either included that information in the story or perhaps we might have chosen not to use his quotes at all. Ms. MacAfee attempted to reach Mr. Knight today to ask him why he didn’t elaborate on his connections to the party, but she couldn’t reach him. CP believes very strongly in its role as an objective news service. Feedback from readers like you helps us do our job better.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
All the best over the holidays and again, thanks for your interest,
Lorraine Turchansky
Prairies News Editor
Canadian Press and Broadcast News

And thanks to Ms. Turchansky for the reply.

As expected, Adrian Measner has been replaced;

The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, today announced the appointment of Greg Arason as interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). Mr. Arason will serve for a three-month transition period until a new President can be selected.
“Since Mr. Arason was the Wheat Board’s President for four years and has an enormous amount of experience as an executive in the grain industry, I am confident he will provide the leadership required during this transition phase,” said Minister Strahl. “I am pleased he has accepted this interim appointment, as it will allow us sufficient time to make sure we find the right person to do the job on a permanent basis.”
Mr. Arason was President and CEO of the CWB between 1998 and 2002 and prior to that was CEO of Manitoba Pool Elevators. He has served as a director of a number of agri-business companies and industry associations including CanAmera Foods, Can-Oat Milling, The Chamber of Maritime Commerce, Canada Grains Council, Prince Rupert Grain, Westco Fertilizers, Western Grain Elevator Association, and XCAN Grain.

The Western Producer responds with an attempted self-immolation. When it comes to editorial rants, that’s going to be hard to top!
In related news – a standing ovation from Quebec farmers for PM Stephen Harper.

Bells tolled and a packed parish hall of grateful locals gave Stephen Harper a standing ovation after the Prime Minister confirmed yesterday his government’s intention to return nearly all of the remaining farmland expropriated for the construction of Mirabel airport.

Picture for a moment, that instead of being president and CEO of the Canadian Wheat Board, Adrian Measner was your real estate agent. And that instead of selling your wheat, he’d been selling your houses.
And imagine for a moment, that you had just served notice that you were terminating the relationship, and would be shopping for another realtor.
And pretend for a moment that, in response, Mr. Measner brought you letters from buyers who had purchased your properties – testifying to his selling abilities, expressing “grave concerns”, and advising it was in your best interest to continue listing your houses with Measner Real Estate.

What would you think? I know what I’d think.

… Related