Buckdog

Ok,

I'm curious. The government has said that it want's to make the government appointed board members elected, which I think is reasonable.

But how exactly have they justified removing these farmers from the voters list? They must have provided some sort of justification (whether it's legitimate or not is another question). Do you know what it is Buck?

CHEATING EXAMPLE #1:
In 2005 and again 2006, in North east Sask and in North west Manitoba there was massive rainfall and thousands of farmers did not plant a wheat crop. Most made it thru the year on crop insurance.

Chuck Strahl, Ag Minister has made a ruling that if a farmer has not delivered a load of 'wheat' during the last 15 months, then they are ineligilbe to vote.

The thousands of farmers who were flooded out have now been disqualified.

CHEATING EXAMPLE #2:
Wheat farmers rotate their crops so that they do not deplete the nitrogen in their soil. Many leave some land 'fallow' for a year or plant canola or crops other than wheat.

Any farmer who did not grow 'wheat' in the last 15 months has now been disqualified.

These are mostly smaller farmers.

The total number disenfranchised under Conservative Government calculated cheating mechanisms is over 16,000.

We are MORE ANGRY THEN YOU COULD EVER POSSIBLY COMPREHEND. PEOPLES' LIVELIHOODS ARE BEING SCREWED AROUND WITH FOR IDEOLOGICAL PURPOSES OF HARPER'S AGENDA.
(at least the large american grain companies will be happy).

Your two examples are bogus (although the latter in the case of _small_ (meaning 1 section or less) is accurate).

First example, any farmer can declare themselves eligible.

Oh, wait, that covers the second example too, and the exemption.

If a farmer feels that they don't want to go to the 'hassle' of declaring themselves then they don't particularily care about the outcome . . . no?

As I pointed out on my blog, if you move, you aren't eligible to vote in the old riding, so too if you don't use the services of the Wheat Board you shouldn't have a say in their fate.

Cheers,
lance

Any farmer who feels that they should be added to the list simply registers. But, the dishonesty would be if, say, a potato farmer or a pig farmer who never ever intends to produce or sell grains wants to vote on an issue that does not affect them whatsoever THAT would be dishonest. Or, do you think that would be okay because those are the types who were on the list.

Hearhear - you made a comment on my October 18th post - without being rude to you, you are operating with a lot of misconceptions.

Only western farmers who sell grain thru the CWB have a permit book traditionally vote in wheat board elections.

Hog farmers, potatoe farmers, dairy farmers - none of them are part of this issue.

We are dealing with farmers who hold permit books and who grow wheat and barley.

Please read the articles that I have attached to my posts to get up to speed on the issue.

The Harper government (as defended by my fellow Saskatchewanian, Lance) believe that it is okay to put a lot of hurdles and barriers up to thin out the number of voters in the Director elections.

This is DISHONEST. It is the type of thing you could expect from Robert Mugabe - not the Government of Canada.

Shame!

Lance - I put harsh words up directed at you after I read your post here - but I have taken them down to TONE them down.

My Comments ARE NOT BOGUS - 16,000 farmers have been taken off the list and hurdles and barriers have been put up to make it difficult for them to vote.

You are being an apologist for cheaters. Strahl and Harper are purposely placing barriers and roadblocks in front of farmers and that is WRONG. It is not 'funny' nor 'political mischief' - it is cheating. It is done in total disregard for democratic process because Harper cannot win fairly.

I am quite angry at your comments. Your casual acceptance of this dishonesty is reprehensible.

As I said to Hearhere it is the kind of crap that we see Robert Mugabe do in Africa to rig the vote. You are okay with that and that pisses me off.

(so believe it or not this post is MUCH more gentle then the original post I responded to you with).

Heh.

I'm former member of the forces LD, after that I did quite a few years as a customer service rep. I've a _very_ thick skin and big shoulders.

It'll be a _long_ time before any online flaming can equal a Master Seaman screaming in my ear in front of my platoon or a customer yelling at me over the speaker phone.

Don't worry about flaming me, I can more than take it . . . just so that you know it'll come back (maybe not in the same thread). That's my downside, I tend to treat people as I expect to be treated and sometimes that's much less than they expect.

Now then, back to topic.

In our admired and freely democratic state, in order to vote in federal or provincial elections a person is judged whether or not they are eligible to vote in (x) election.

This is done federally by your (privacy violation) income tax or by door-to-door. It is done prior to _every_ election and the onus is on the voter.

This is a good thing as it nearly eliminates voter fraud.

As I replied to your comment, how often are permit books updated? What is the term on them? Why is moving to a more open form of voting (i.e, registering your desire to vote) a bad thing?

Good politics doesn't necessarily mean bad policy.

Cheers,
lance

You continue to be an apologist for Tory jiggery pokery and electoral roadblocks and barriers. I guess you are merely defending your guys but if for one second you analysed what they are doing - it is undemocratic. It is wrong.

Things are starting to reach a critical mass for Harper's government.

They will be gone soon.

WorldNetDaily
Posted: October 21, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern:

"Support for Canada's eight-month-old Conservative minority government slipped significantly in the opinion polls last week, chiefly because it was rapidly losing ground in Quebec.

A poll conducted by The Strategic Group showed the Liberals and Conservatives tied at 32 percent nationally. In the January election, the Conservatives took 36 percent of the vote and the Liberals 30 percent. In the poll, the New Democratic Party was shown holding steady at 17 percent.

But the shocking change occurred to Tory fortunes in Quebec. In January, they took 25 percent of the Quebec vote. In May their polled support rose to 30 percent. It is now down to 16 percent.

Allan Gregg, president of The Strategic Group, attributed the Tory decline to three issues: Prime Minister Stephen Harper's determination to sustain and/or expand Canada's role in Afghanistan, his government's refusal to endorse the Kyoto environmental accord, and his decision to hold another parliamentary vote on gay marriage."

Bye bye Steve, Jason, Rob, Stockwell, Peter, Monty, etc, etc.

I don't think you understand Lance, there are farmers who are trying to register but are not allowed. It has nothing to do with a lack of willingness to vote. As for leftdog's prediction regarding the Harper government, I agree. Their days are numbered.

Charlie: What, the vote already happened? When is the vote? How long until the cut-off on registration?

Cheers,
lance

LD:

Apologist? Maybe. Course that implies that there is something to apologize for. I don't see it as that.

Perhaps you'll bother answering my questions:

Said I: how often are permit books updated? What is the term on them? Why is moving to a more open form of voting (i.e, registering your desire to vote) a bad thing?

Cheers,
lance

That is basically irrelevant, but, five directors are being elected to the board - elections end Dec. 1.

My post is about dirty Tory electoral practices. That is the issue. In spite of weak Conservative arguments that tend to try and smokescreen what is happening.

a)CWB elections are underway.
b)in the dying days of the campaign, the Federal Tories completely change the voting and enumeration criteria (right out of the blue, a NEW way of conducting elections from the manner they have been conducted in for years).
c)the Tory jiggery pokery is intended to warp, distort or otherwise prevent the winners to be individuals who do not embrace the Conservative Party's desired right wing / 'free market' ideological changes.

It is called .......CHEATING!

It will have ......CONSEQUENCES!

So, just for the record then, let me get this straight.

You're angry because a non-expiring registration card is no longer valid, that 1.45 months is too short a time to re-register, and that its just different.

Is that correct?

Cheers,
lance

Lance, your minimization of Tory cheating is classic! I would have thought that ONLY the professional liars and 'Cheat Monkeys' in Harper's Privy Council Office could have reduced an issue of this importance down to: "You're angry because a non-expiring registration card is no longer valid"

No I am angry because the Conservative Government with support from the mindless right are cheating in an election and you are spinning it as you just did.

Lance, it is sorta like witnessing an emerging dictatorship in its embryonic form. But you know what? .....Canadians are going to stomp it out before it gets a chance to fester and infect us too badly.

Is Harper Trying out a New Salute?

My father retired from farming in 1981, and still receives a check from the wheat board once a year, usually about 2 bucks. THESE are the people that were removed from the vote. There is no way that you farm and not take any product in in two years, and as lance said, if you want to be re-instated, they will.....

No no no ... you are talking about the 'Wheat Pool' not the 'Wheat Board'. The 'Pools' continue with member equity sometimes for decades after a farmer retires.

If you have a valid membership - regardless of when the last time you farmed - you should have a fair vote.

It's like cutting a citizen from the voters list in an upcoming federal election because they didn't vote in the last election.

Guess they should have thought ahead and planted wheat instead of canola, or nothing even if it meant a shitty yield. Who has that foresight? No one, and that's the point.

I completely support Leftdogs argument.

Dazzlindino - Then I suppose your dad should abstain from voting. That would be the only responsible thing to do. Or he should really vote on how he has experienced the Wheat Board.

The fact is that there are small farmers who do leave their fields fallow for a year and rely on other work or different crops for that year. The worst part is that these are usually small family farms.

Many farmers do not go into specialized farming, concentrating on only wheat, canola, flax... whatever. Many rotate their fields and their crops for a variety of reasons.

My grandfather farms in Northern Saskatchewan and I know he does that. I'm not positive if he is excluded from the vote, but he shouldn't be. He's a dedicated farmer who puts wheat in the ground when it will grow and doesn't when the condidtions are not right. It's called farming and everyone who does it should be entitled to a vote. Period.