The Canadian Wheat Board has placed a full page ad in newspapers across the country, condemning the Harper government for dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board.
He first took up this campaign when he was with the National Citizens Coalition, on behalf of Karlheinz Schreiber who was hoping to start a pasta factory in the West. Since then, the attack on the CWB has been on behalf of multinational corporations.
In the ad, the CWB remind us that 62% of wheat farmers want the board kept intact, since its disappearance will mean that small wheat farmers will have to negotiate directly with giant American food conglomerates, and how easy will that be? We know that only corporate farms have the resources to effectively handle that.
This government has no problem exploiting farmers to fulfill the NRA's agenda, but refuses to stand with farmers when they need assistance.By ramming this legislation through Parliament without any debate, Harper hopes he can make the final decision to shift the profits and control of wheat farming from Canadian farmers to multinational corporations from the U.S.
He claims that the Canadian people gave him a mandate to get rid of things like that, but I don't remember seeing any of this on the ballot.
I had an opportunity to work with the local farming community during the Save the Prison Farms campaign, and was so impressed with the lengths they went to, to help the prison community, who learned so much about life by tending to farm animals, growing their own food, and running the daily operations of a farm.
Now that group is taking what they've learned about political activism and applying it to other injustices. What remarkable people.
We need to take a close look at Harper's agenda. You could be next.
You can text FARMER to 24680 to have a letter sent to Canada's MPs.
Canadian Farmers occupying the tracks near Colonsay, Saskatchewan, Canada in support of the Canadian Wheat Board. The Canadian Wheat Board is under attack by the Harper government, who would like to turn control of the grain trade over to transnational corporations such as Cargill and Bunge.
ReplyDeletehttp://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2011/10/best-net/canadian-farmers-stay-track
Wow. Thanks for that. I had no idea that Harper himself had ties to Schreiber (explains both the inquiry & its tight boundaries) & wondered where this 'CWB kills CDN pasta factories' came from, & am horrified to learn that so much of the CPC's misinfo & thuggery comes from Harper himself.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how/why the CWB actually allegedly blocked said plant -- apart from not volunteering to disband itself but continuing to get higher prices for its producers than the plant was willing to spend, that is?
The Wheat Board was developed as an option around 1935 then made compulsory for WW2 purposes and has stayed that way.
ReplyDeleteA lot of prairie farmers turned to Canola and Pulse crops.Oats was set free and Ontario opted out. Alberta has longed to escape but Saskatchewan and Manitoba small farmers, who have each got a vote have held sway.
One big problem is that after an initial,fairly small down payment,farmers have to wait 18 months or so for their money.
The Bill asks that marketing through the Wheat Board becomes once more OPTIONAL. Them as wants it can still have it. It is just propaganda to stay it will be eliminated.