One dollar, one vote

Buckdog has already pointed out that the Cons' efforts to interfere with elections for the Canadian Wheat Board's board of directors proved a failure, as pro-CWB directors once again won four of the five positions up for grabs. But take a look at what the Cons' side in the ongoing Wheat Board battle is proposing to try to tip the balance next time out:

(T)he head of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers contends CWB director elections are “not reliable indicators of farmer opinion." With voters lists drawn from CWB permit book holders, the elections are stacked in favour of single-desk supporters, said Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, president of WCWG.

Instead of CWB permit book holders who gave delivered board-grains in the past two years, votes should be given to producers based on how much grain they produced.

“We suggested … that farmers should get one vote for the first 500 tonnes of production, then one vote for every additional 500 tonnes," she said.

But the CWB’s Hill wasn’t convinced that the weighted vote was the way to go.

“One producer, one vote is the standard of democracy in Canada,” Hill said.

“You don’t vote in federal elections based on how much income tax you pay.”

Which is true - at least until the Cons present their January budget. But for those of us who define democracy as something other than the rule of those who don't own a lot by those who do, the dispute offers a rare peek at just how far Con-affiliated groups are willing to go to try to rig the playing field against public opinion which doesn't fit their purposes.