It's interesting how silent the Western Canadian Wheat Growers and the Western Canadian Barley Growers are as the ballots arrive for the Saskatchewan Wheat and Barley Commission elections.
During the previous Canadian Wheat Board director elections the WCWG and the WCBG were wailing that the CWB elections were undemocratic and had no relevance to what farmers wanted. However we don't hear even a snivel from them about the commission elections even though few democratic principles are built into the process.
This is no surprise when we look at the government appointed steering committee members who set the whole process up. They are hardened WCWG and WCBG members like Bill Cooper, Gerrid Gust and of course Cherilyn Nagel Jolly.
Look at what they have done. There is no voters list, not even one for the candidates to use in their election campaign. There is no provision for scrutineers and it appears the ballots will be counted over several days. The vote is not secret because your signed declaration paper goes into the ballot envelope, so whoever opens the envelope knows how you voted. In addition, the election had to be delayed by a week even though the steering committee was in total control of the dates!
Are they no longer concerned about fair elections because they are running, or are they just completely indifferent to the concepts of democratic process, fair play and simple competence? More likely they are afraid farmers will remember what they and their organizations stood for.
Kyle Korneychuk
Pelly
