Local farmers attend historic third reading

The road from a southern Alberta jail cell to a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa proved long and hard but was well worth the effort according to Darren Winczura and Gary Brandt, two local farmers who made the decade-long journey.

On Nov. 28 the pair traveled to Ottawa at the invite of the Prime Minister’s office to be on hand for the third reading of Bill C 18, legislation ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk selling system for wheat durum and barley.

In an interview both men agreed that being on hand for the historic third reading was something neither of them will soon forget.

The men said they were among the estimated 60 pro marketing freedom farmers from Western Canada seated in the gallery.

Winczura and Brandt said they were asked to refrain from cheering or making any outward signs of approval when the final reading was passed but said that neither they nor the other farmers in the gallery could refrain from giving a thumbs up when the third reading went through. The vote passed with 153 votes to 120.

More see the Dec. 20/11 issue of the Viking Weekly Review