Alex Binkley for the Ontario Farmer
Missing the Point in CWB Elections
Commentators rightly zeroed in on the 59% turnout in the October federal election as a disturbing sign for the health of Canadian democracy and suggested all sorts of changes.
So what does it say when only 52% of western farmers who were eligible to vote in the recent election for Canadian Wheat Board directors bothered to return the ballots mailed to them? The CWB should be concerned about the impact on its credibility when nearly half the eligible farmers don’t vote.
CWB chairman Larry Hill said the directors’ election is “central to the principle of farmer control over the CWB as their grain marketing corporation.” No sign he was concerned about all the farmers who couldn’t be bothered to mark their ballots and put them back in the mail.
“This is a huge victory for farmers,” NFU President Stewart Wells gloated because eight of the 10 farmer elected directors support the Board’s monopoly on wheat and barley sales. He thinks the Harper government should back off its criticisms of the Board. But there was no evidence Wells was concerned about the level of voter participation.
Although it hasn’t been particularly adroit at making its case for changing the Board, the government has never hid its wish to gain marketing freedom for Prairie producers and it did win every Prairie rural seat in October. One of its main criticisms of the Board is that its voter list is packed with folks whose livelihood isn’t affected by the CWB’s successes and failures. The government’s attempt to get a minimal production requirement included in determining who is eligible to vote in the election was fought all the way by opponents who want to keep the status quo.
The low turnout will likely encourage the government to keep pushing for changes that make the board more business like. Why shouldn’t it? It knows from the plebiscites it conducted than 15 to 20% of farmers want out of the board completely and more than half would like the choice of selling through the open market and the Board.
If the CWB doesn’t undertake to find out why so many farmers didn’t vote, then the government should. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggest many growers have switched out of wheat and barley because of the presence of the Board. Others don’t vote because they think there’s no point as the CWB is determined to ignore their wishes for marketing choice.
Most discussions about the CWB come down to are you for or against it. The federal plebiscites as well as the Board’s own surveys suggest a majority of producers want a different arrangement. Maybe they were discouraged from voting because no one is offering alternatives to keep the Board in business but let farmers sell on their own when they want.
Rolf Penner- There is an interesting discussion going on about this at Agriville.
