I often wonder why when politics is involved otherwise intelligent people say such stupid things.
A recent example was the viewpoint, Savvy politics to end monopoly (SP, Sept. 22). Devin Dubois wrote that the federal government wants to simultaneously maintain a viable Canadian Wheat Board and take away its single desk authority.
Dubois supports the notion this is possible. Even former Conservative agriculture minister Chuck Strahl's own task force on the subject concluded the CWB could not continue if it was not a single-desk seller.
Dubois suspects that Stephen Harper and Gerry Ritz are right when they say that the majority of farm voters share their free-market ideology.
However, ending the CWB single desk was rarely, if ever, mentioned and was certainly not the lead point in the 2011 election campaign.
The promise of lower taxes and the end of the long gun registry - and perhaps the abundance of signs advertising Economic Stimulus spending - seem to be what carried the Conservatives here.
Farmer voters trusted that the fate of the CWB was in their own hands, as they know the Wheat Board Act requires a vote before any change to the single desk is made. When the question is solely on the CWB, farmers support the single desk by a 2: 1, 3: 1, or even 4: 1 ratio. In fact, pro-single desk candidates in the last CWB director elections were only a scant 31 votes from a clean sweep.
Is Dubois supporting the interests of the majority of farmers?
Glenn Tait Meota
A recent example was the viewpoint, Savvy politics to end monopoly (SP, Sept. 22). Devin Dubois wrote that the federal government wants to simultaneously maintain a viable Canadian Wheat Board and take away its single desk authority.
Dubois supports the notion this is possible. Even former Conservative agriculture minister Chuck Strahl's own task force on the subject concluded the CWB could not continue if it was not a single-desk seller.
Dubois suspects that Stephen Harper and Gerry Ritz are right when they say that the majority of farm voters share their free-market ideology.
However, ending the CWB single desk was rarely, if ever, mentioned and was certainly not the lead point in the 2011 election campaign.
The promise of lower taxes and the end of the long gun registry - and perhaps the abundance of signs advertising Economic Stimulus spending - seem to be what carried the Conservatives here.
Farmer voters trusted that the fate of the CWB was in their own hands, as they know the Wheat Board Act requires a vote before any change to the single desk is made. When the question is solely on the CWB, farmers support the single desk by a 2: 1, 3: 1, or even 4: 1 ratio. In fact, pro-single desk candidates in the last CWB director elections were only a scant 31 votes from a clean sweep.
Is Dubois supporting the interests of the majority of farmers?
Glenn Tait Meota
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