It seems there is a strong lobby to take barley away from the Canadian Wheat Board. Mr. Strahl has set up biased media coverage, fired the C.E.O., hand picked a replacement, refused to accord the C.W.B. board of directors regulatory process of business, and is using the Canadian Government as a hammer to get his message home.
You would wonder why this heavy handed attitude about selling barley. Mr. Strahl isn't jumping all over everybody's rights when it comes to paying out Saskatchewan's equalization that was promised to us in the same election platform. Does he have a hidden International/U.S.A lobby that he is listening to? How is it that Mr. Strahl seems to be the most powerful Member in Parliament, that he can have Order in Council motions made to override business regulations, and farmers rights? Of all the Members in Parliament why is he allowed to run roughshod without being called to task? Is it because we are farmers, and therefore we are seen as easy targets?
If the C.W.B. is stripped of Barley sales, this would leave them in a weaker position on the global market. If the C.W.B. collapses, American and International conglomerates win. They get immediate access to prairie grains. They can and will strip us of any extra income that we might think we could make. Americans do not want our grain to compete with theirs. That is why they have tried to close down the C.W.B. in the past. Do you really think, American companies will try and pick up the glut of barley and wheat sales in Canada before they buy their own first?
The railway companies will be jumping with joy. They will no longer have to deal with a cap. They will charge us any freight charges they please, as we will no longer have a major shipper/exporter to guarantee grain car shipments or monitor freight charges. The Prairies could never again set up a pooling system such as the C.W. B., as the Free Trade act will have taken that freedom away from us.
So, if you want to vote in favour of taking away barley grains from the C.W. B. just remember who destroyed your family farm. You did!
