Canadian Politics

[Tracker]

Just now, Mark F said:

Could have put it to a vote. Didn't.

A vote would have been democratic, and that would not sit well with the Harper regime. The Americans tried repeatedly to attack the Wheat Board through GATT and NAFTA, losing all times, so they had Harper do it for them. 

[Mark F]

1 hour ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

The Harper government’s downsizing of federal libraries included sudden closing of seven world famous Department of Fisheries and Oceans archives

I knew a man that worked there, and witnessed this.  I think he told me books and records were just carted away and destroyed. He was a scientist, so, you can easily imagine what he thought.
 

harper also closed the world famous experimental lakes research projects. Saved by Manitoba government.... NDP .." and other organizations.

It makes sense if the Federal government is run firstly to benefit the oil and mining industries.

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Mark F

[Mark H.]

12 minutes ago, Tracker said:

A vote would have been democratic, and that would not sit well with the Harper regime. The Americans tried repeatedly to attack the Wheat Board through GATT and NAFTA, losing all times, so they had Harper do it for them. 

If you're looking to criticize Harper, you'll find that the Wheat Board is not a good issue to do it on.  

[Noeller]

this was always my favourite take on the Wheat Board dismantling.......

 

[the watcher]

31 minutes ago, Mark F said:

Could have put it to a vote. Didnt.

It's not that simple. I was a wheat board permit holder. I hadn't grown wheat for years because I had moved to forage and cattle. It no longer effected me but I could have voted. There were many , many older farmers renting out their land who were still permit holders. It wasn't a simple thing . If you took a poll  now it would be 80 or 90 percent that are happy to be able to market wheat and barley like the rest of their crops.

It came into  being when wheat was king in the prairies. It no longer is. With the diversification of crops now it is very difficult for grain companies to hold farmers hostage as they just switch crops. And in a big generalisation farmers today are better educated and very savy about marketing. Yes , there was alot of ideology involved in allowing farmers to market outside the Wheat Board.  But in this case it probably worked out for the better.

[17to85]

4 hours ago, GCn20 said:

There is no party in Canada that would even attempt the privatization of health care in Canada

Haaaaave you met the UCP?

[rebusrankin]

On no party being willing to privatize healthcare. We just had the first debate for the leadership of the Federal Conservative Party where candidates argued over who supported a bunch of traitors who blocked national borders the most. In the words of Kevin Garnett, "Anything is possible."

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

If you're looking to criticize Harper, you'll find that the Wheat Board is not a good issue to do it on.  

It's actually a perfect example. The way they went about it, is a text book con.

[Mark H.]

7 minutes ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

It's actually a perfect example. The way they went about it, is a text book con.

So, the procedures are what you're on about.  That was textbook politics in general. 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

2 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

So, the procedures are what you're on about.  That was textbook politics in general. 

The dishonesty of the whole process. The plebiscite was farcical. 

In the end, I feel that the producers should have dealt with the Wheat board as they saw fit., not what the government wanted.

[Mark H.]

Just now, wanna-b-fanboy said:

The dishonesty of the whole process. The plebiscite was farcical. 

In the end, I feel that the producers should have dealt with the Wheat board as they saw fit., not what the government wanted.

Fair enough. And I think it would have been removed either way.  Every majority government does pretty much what they want - that's just reality. 

[GCn20]

12 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Haaaaave you met the UCP?

Thankfully no. lol....but they are in enough trouble in the polls as it is, take away health care and it would take the return of Ralph to get them a seat.

[GCn20]

13 hours ago, the watcher said:

It's not that simple. I was a wheat board permit holder. I hadn't grown wheat for years because I had moved to forage and cattle. It no longer effected me but I could have voted. There were many , many older farmers renting out their land who were still permit holders. It wasn't a simple thing . If you took a poll  now it would be 80 or 90 percent that are happy to be able to market wheat and barley like the rest of their crops.

It came into  being when wheat was king in the prairies. It no longer is. With the diversification of crops now it is very difficult for grain companies to hold farmers hostage as they just switch crops. And in a big generalisation farmers today are better educated and very savy about marketing. Yes , there was alot of ideology involved in allowing farmers to market outside the Wheat Board.  But in this case it probably worked out for the better.

Definitely worked out for the better, the Wheat Board was awful. The prices were awful for grain in general. There is a reason that everyone switched away from wheat and barley. My brother farms in the Interlake and he planted wheat and barley for the first time in decades after they dismantled the CWB because there was actually potential to make money.

The only people really upset about the dismantling of the CWB are people who don't farm, the employees of the CWB, and the occasional old farmer who had moved to other crops already.

Edited May 11, 2022 by GCn20

[GCn20]

14 hours ago, the watcher said:

There were alot of farmers that wanted the Wheat Board gone. Id guess about 50/50. Lots of older farmers liked it, lots of young farmers wanted the option of marketing their wheat and barley like they did the rest of their crops. I had cattle and forage so I had no skin in the game. But did it really make sense that you could grow wheat in Ontario and market it how you liked but not in Manitoba ? Did it make sense that you could grow flax or canola and market it where and how you wanted but not your wheat or barley ?  Yes, the Wheat Board served a purpose , at least at one time but it was questionable by the time it was dealt with. I had neighbors who hated the Wheat Board and neighbors who hated the market being opened up. Now I rarely hear it brought up.There seems to be very few mourners.

In my opinion the demise or perhaps the slow death of the Manitoba Hog board  did far more damage to Manitoba family farms. It didn't get alot of press though. That was the provincial Pc's that changed the rules that brought about vertical integration. 

Edit : I wwould add in the rail line closures and the privatization of the farmer owned grain pools as things that did way more damage to small farms and rural communities than the demise of the Wheat board

 

100% bang on correct. I would say far less than 50% were in favor the CWB at the time of it's demise, their fear was of the unknown not the demise of the CWB. Also, absolutely correct that the demise of the Pool elevators and rail lines were extremely damaging to much of rural Manitoba small towns. It killed the family farm.

[Mark H.]

24 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Definitely worked out for the better, the Wheat Board was awful. The prices were awful for grain in general. There is a reason that everyone switched away from wheat and barley. My brother farms in the Interlake and he planted wheat and barley for the first time in decades after they dismantled the CWB because there was actually potential to make money.

The only people really upset about the dismantling of the CWB are people who don't farm, the employees of the CWB, and the occasional old farmer who had moved to other crops already.

We found that the Wheat Board paid quite well, but it took longer to get your money.  But, we felt we didn't need the CWB, because we were marketing the rest of our crops ourselves. 

14 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

100% bang on correct. I would say far less than 50% were in favor the CWB at the time of it's demise, their fear was of the unknown not the demise of the CWB. Also, absolutely correct that the demise of the Pool elevators and rail lines were extremely damaging to much of rural Manitoba small towns. It killed the family farm.

I don't know about that. Compared to the cost of planting, cultivating and harvesting, the cost of hauling your grain to a larger centre is peanuts.  

[the watcher]

11 hours ago, Mark H. said:

We found that the Wheat Board paid quite well, but it took longer to get your money.  But, we felt we didn't need the CWB, because we were marketing the rest of our crops ourselves. 

I don't know about that. Compared to the cost of planting, cultivating and harvesting, the cost of hauling your grain to a larger centre is peanuts.  

One of the costs that is rarely thought about is what all that traffic does to our roads. My property borders the highway and there was a massive change in the amount of semis on the road once we lost our rail line. And we are generally not keeping up to the wear on the highways any more. On top of the damage and wear to roads you could add in the cost to the environment .100s of trucks vs one train. 

[Mark H.]

34 minutes ago, the watcher said:

One of the costs that is rarely thought about is what all that traffic does to our roads. My property borders the highway and there was a massive change in the amount of semis on the road once we lost our rail line. And we are generally not keeping up to the wear on the highways any more. On top of the damage and wear to roads you could add in the cost to the environment .100s of trucks vs one train. 

But don't forget - the trucks were still hauling the grain to the local elevators, even when the trains were running.  We haul our grain to Patterson on the West perimeter. From there, it gets shipped further (usually south) by train. The vast majority of Canada's exported grain is still moved by train.  

[the watcher]

9 hours ago, Mark H. said:

But don't forget - the trucks were still hauling the grain to the local elevators, even when the trains were running.  We haul our grain to Patterson on the West perimeter. From there, it gets shipped further (usually south) by train. The vast majority of Canada's exported grain is still moved by train.  

The difference in  my area was 3 or 5 miles trucking when  we had rail which became about 75  miles when the rail was gone.

[blue_gold_84]

Oh, Murphy Brownshirt... You have lost your mind.

[Mark H.]

4 hours ago, the watcher said:

The difference in  my area was 3 or 5 miles trucking when  we had rail which became about 75  miles when the rail was gone.

Fair comment. One difference I would point out: fewer large semis vs. many small grain trucks

[Fatty Liver]

Enough is enough, these stupid rednecks are fundamentally altering the way our political system operates.  Social media has given them a platform to organize their protests, and unless steps are taken to crack down on this vulgar behaviour, public appearances by political representatives will revert to the Harper model, were public appearances are in fact private controlled events for invited guests only.  Which would also exclude any press that might ask unscripted questions or shine a bad light on the political candidate.  These idiots have nothing to contribute to democracy, other than spewing vitriol and white noise.

 

"Stay the f*ck out of Peterborough": Jagmeet Singh harassed at NDP event

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/singh-peterborough-campaign-harrasment-1.6449729

 

 

[JCon]

2 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Enough is enough, these stupid rednecks are fundamentally altering the way our political system operates.  Social media has given them a platform to organize their protests, and unless steps are taken to crack down on this vulgar behaviour, public appearances by political representatives will revert to the Harper model, were public appearances are in fact private controlled events for invited guests only.  Which would also exclude any press that might ask unscripted questions or shine a bad light on the political candidate.  These idiots have nothing to contribute to democracy, other than spewing vitriol and white noise.

 

"Stay the f*ck out of Peterborough": Jagmeet Singh harassed at NDP event

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/singh-peterborough-campaign-harrasment-1.6449729

 

 

They feel empowered by the CPC who are praising them. They cozied up the terrorists that occupied Ottawa and condoned the actions of those that harassed Trudeau in the last federal campaign.

And, if you watched the debate, you know you can expect more from them. 

[GCn20]

5 hours ago, the watcher said:

The difference in  my area was 3 or 5 miles trucking when  we had rail which became about 75  miles when the rail was gone.

Same in the area of Interlake my Dad farmed and my brother took over.  

[JCon]

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Same in the area of Interlake my Dad farmed and my brother took over.  

Did you have any interest in being a farmer? 

[GCn20]

On 2022-05-11 at 8:18 AM, Mark H. said:

We found that the Wheat Board paid quite well, but it took longer to get your money.  But, we felt we didn't need the CWB, because we were marketing the rest of our crops ourselves. 

I don't know about that. Compared to the cost of planting, cultivating and harvesting, the cost of hauling your grain to a larger centre is peanuts.  

We moved out of grain in the mid 70's because there was no money in it, so I will have to take your word for it on the CWB after that time. The cost of hauling grain to market all depends how much further you have to go. In some areas it was minimal, but others it was quite expensive because the distance was further. My brother now has to haul almost 100k to sell his grain.

8 minutes ago, JCon said:

Did you have any interest in being a farmer? 

My brother was the eldest and took over the farm. Our farm wasn't big enough to support multiple families so I went my own way. I think I made the right decision. To answer your question though, I loved cattle farming and hated grain farming. My brother operates a few head of cattle for me that I butcher and sell at auction each year, in exchange I look after the livestock for him a couple weeks each winter while he goes South somewhere.

Edited May 12, 2022 by GCn20