Pro-wheat board farmers rally in Brandon
Manitoba farmers gathered in Brandon Saturday to show support for the Canadian Wheat Board.
The federal government tabled legislation Tuesday to end the board's monopoly on marketing wheat and barley grown in Western Canada.
Patrick Desjarlais, one of the organizers of the rally, noted a majority of farmers recently voted to maintain the monopoly in a plebiscite organized by the board.
Desjarlais said Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in introducing the changes, is ignoring farmers' wishes.
"He does not govern from a position of what is good for the people as a whole," Desjarlais said. "He governs from free market principles. Farmers have chosen the wheat board. Why is our prime minister undermining the democratic right of farmers to choose for themselves?"
Similar pro-wheat board rallies were held Friday in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
