(Regina) The Canadian Wheat Board Alliance estimates a full colour leaflet featuring two men and a boy promoting Harper’s decision to destroy our Canadian Wheat Board cost tax payers over $100,000.00. The heavy cardstock leaflet delivered across western Canada promoted Conservative legislation which would remove democratic control of wheat and barley sales from Canadian farmers and give it to the five giant foreign corporations which control the balance of the planet’s grain.
According to Canada Post rates, postage alone would be $80,000.00. This is in addition to an undetermined amount for printing and handling.
“Government publications that promote a political position are called “propaganda” and tax payers should not have to fund them,” said Bill Gehl, chairperson of the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance. “This action is especially hypocritical when the Harper Conservatives are attacking our elected CWB Directors for defending our farmers’ economic interests by trying to stop what amounts to the nationalization and seizure of our grain marketing corporation, the Canadian Wheat Board.”
The bilingual card with the Government of Canada logo prominently displayed left the impression it was an official information circular. However it only repeated discredited slogans from defeated candidates for Directorships on the Canadian Wheat Board. Calling the 800 number on the bottom of the leaflet last week elicited confusion from staff and eventually a referral to another number for Agriculture Canada.
Gehl went on to note that “propaganda publications do much more than misuse and waste tax payer money. They damage the credibility of the government itself by politicizing the civil service. This damages its ability to provide objective information which hurts all Canadians.”
Gehl concluded by saying “this leaflet is certainly a concise listing of the myths about our Wheat Board promoted by Canada’s foreign trade rivals, but these are all things which farmers have heard before and clearly rejected by voting to keep our CWB in a plebiscite this summer. Mr. Harper’s bullying tactics should give all Canadians cause for concern well beyond the waste of taxpayer money on propaganda efforts” Gehl concluded.