Viking farmers pardoned by PM after being arrested for famous protest

Two Viking farmers were among the 13 Alberta farmers who received a pardon last week from Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a special gathering which took place in Kindersley, SK.

Darren Winczura and Gary Brandt of Viking were granted full pardon by the Prime Minster on Aug.1, the anniversary of the official end of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB).

The board was the marketing authority of western Canadian wheat and barley.

Harper used the occasion of the Aug. 1 anniversary to issue a royal prerogative of mercy for the farmers who protested the CWB’s monopoly in the 1990s and early 2000s by transporting grains illegally over the U.S.-Canadian border.