NFU Ask RCMP To Investigate Wheat Board Election

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has asked the RCMP to conduct an investigation into the practices of five Conservative MPs in regards to the round of Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) elections held in late 2008.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has asked the RCMP to conduct an investigation into the practices of five Conservative MPs in regards to the round of Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) elections held in late 2008. Apparently, during the CWB Director elections, five Conservative MPs used taxpayers’ money to try and get anti-CWB candidates elected. The NFU claims the Conservative MPs sent letters directly to farmers telling them how to vote and who to vote for. As well, the NFO says it seems the mailing list used by the Conservative MPs was identical to the CWB voters’ list. The CWB election voters’ list is only supposed to be available to the candidates involved, and there are strict rules in place to ensure the proper use of the private information contained in the voters’ list. “There have been several conflicting stories coming from the Conservative MPs themselves regarding the mailing list that they used to promote anti-CWB candidates during the election,” said Stewart Wells, President of the National Farmers Union. “Given that it is an offence under the CWB Act to break the CWB Act or its regulations, it seems that the only way to get to the truth is to ask the RCMP to investigate, and that is what we have done.” “It seems to us that the first step of an investigation would be to establish whether or not the CWB voters’ list was actually used by the Conservative MPs. Farmers are angry about the abuse of democracy by the Conservatives, and farmers have sent over fifty of the letters to the National Farmers Union. It appears that in every case the name and address on the MP’s letters is identical to the name and address in the farmer’s CWB permit book—including typos and corporate names. The information in the CWB permit book is also supposed to be protected by Canada’s Privacy Act of 1983,” continued Wells. Besides the voters’ list issue, there are other outstanding problems with the Conservative MPs’ actions, including their violation of the MPs’ Conflict of Interest Code. According to the MPs’ Code, MPs are not supposed to help their friends become “…a director or officer in a corporation, association or trade union…” In an update to this story the RCMP have launched a probe.