LETTERS

The Editor: Conservative MP David Anderson can rest assured that no one is confused about his desire to kill the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) and farmers’ market power. And since his party’s other dirty tricks and illegal Cabinet orders have failed, their fall-back position is to change who gets to vote in upcoming CWB director elections. Hence their latest legislation.

Barring producers that actually grow and sell Wheat Board grains from voting, while paving the way for producers that don’t grow and sell Wheat Board grains simply makes the CWB less accountable to the farmers it serves. Next thing you know Anderson will be saying that Liberal and NDP party members should be allowed to vote for the next Conservative leader.

The Conservatives are quick to call the Senate “un-elected and un-accountable,” while at the same time they make partisan and un-elected appointments to the CWB in order to influence policy decisions (including voting rules) at the CWB board table. “Do as I say, but not as I do” should be the Conservative logo.

Anderson’s inappropriate use of taxpayer money used to campaign on behalf of anti-CWB candidates in 2008 was indefensible, and his refusal to follow the voting rules and register as a third party intervenor and report the spending merely highlights the arrogance of a group of MPs that believe they are above the law.

There is CWB legislation that should be supported, but that legislation comes from Ralph Goodale — not David Anderson. Goodale’s legislation gives the farmers more control over their marketing agency, which is a continuation of the process started by Goodale in 1998. An addition to Goodale’s legislation to include a “user-pay, user-vote” clause would make his legislation very worthy of farmer support. — Stewart Wells, Swift Current, Sask.