Farmer against farmer?

Good Day Readers:

We're on the mailing list for one of the groups which has consistently opposed Bill C-18 so regularly receive copies of e-mail on the subject. Lately, we've noticed a growing concern as the legislation seems to be pitting one farmer against another. Concern well-placed? We don't know.

Of politics perhaps Jean Chretien and Jacqueline Kennedy said it best. The former, "While Prime Minister I always walked with my back to the wall elbows held high." The latter, "Politics is a game of knives."

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
__________________________________________________

Eduard Hiebert
2186 Highway 26
Saint Francois Xavier, Manitoba
R4L 1B3
(204) 864-2102

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

For the record, this is my second open letter to you given the first was never even provided the courtesy of an acknowledgment of receipt. That correspondence to one of your predecessor's marked the 10 year anniversary on the day after September 11, 2001 when civilian aeroplanes were used as weapons of mass destruction.

The purpose of this letter is to make publicly certain you will know that the contents of one of Rod Flaman's farm building's was razed on December 12, 2011 as reported in the following Regina Leaderpost article:

http://www.leaderpost.com/director+suspects+arson
+farm+near+Regina/5883989/story.html

Why would his loss have any meaning to you personally and as Prime Minister?

Here is part of the larger context. Rod Flaman is, of course, not unknown to you. He was one of the farmers elected by farmers not as your, nor the government's representative, but as our farmer Director Representative on the Canadian Wheat Board - one among seven whom you had fired only a few days removed from the fire.

As to razing the prairie farmers' single-desk Canadian Wheat Board on behalf of The Astroturf Group which you and it pretentiously called The National Citizens Coalition has been a multi-year target of yours.

Turning to the powers you now have as PM, you provided an earlier critique:

"In today's democratic societies, organisations share power ... through consultation, committees and consensus-building techniques. Only in politics do we still entrust power to a single faction expected to prevail ... by sheer force of numbers. Even more anachronistically, we persist in structuring the governing team like a military regiment under a single commander with almost total power to appoint, discipline and expel subordinates."

More recently, through C-18 you have expressed intentions to raze the CWB and provided warning you were prepared to steamroller anyone in your way. Even when a federal court* found your Minister broke the law in how you and he advanced bill C-18, you have continued on your path in the exercise of power as defined by you.

Your words and actions could be mistaken by some crazed supporters as a word of encouragement and licence to put certain CWB supporters in harms way and in my opinion heightens the need for you to immediately, in clear and in no uncertain terms, condemn publicly those acts of violence and vandalism against Rod Flaman are cowardly, will not be tolerated and, furthermore, you will do everything within your power to see that justice will be done by bringing all who have had a hand in this alleged case of arson, including threats made to other CWB supporters will be brought to justice as true examples of your "tough on crime" agenda.

The Federal Court of Canada's recent decision citing the government for not following proper procedure:

http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/rss/Wheat%20Board%20T-1735-11%20and%20T-1057-11%20reasons.pdf

As a point of correction, you call C-18 a Freedom Bill. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact of the matter that you have not refuted is that under the CWB single-desk system every farmer through the "buy-back" program already had the right to sell their grain to anyone they wished even at any price they wished. However, the Canadian Wheat Board buy-back ensured no farmer could profit by selling their grain below the price available to The Board. With C-18, you are advancing the illusion farmers can now profit by pitting farmer against farmer when ,in reality, by razing the CWB single-desk instead of offering change on the dollar you are giving very large international companies the power to short-change farmers on every dollar.

Sincerely,
Eduard Hiebert