Open Letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin
March 28, 2004
The Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellingnton Street
Ottawa, Ontario
By Fax to (613) 941-6900
Re:
Illegal Monopoly granted to the Canadian Wheat Board over Wheat
and Barley owned by Western Canadian Farmers
Dear Prime Minister:
You have brought forth a
breath of fresh air in Canada by promising to bring about democratic
reform to ensure that Parliament is an effective forum for expressing
Canadian interests.
I
am writing this letter to provide you with a clear picture as to why it
is that the monopoly granted to the Canadian Wheat Board is a very clear
violation of the democratic rights of the farmers of Western Canada and
why it is that Parliament should move to amend the Canadian Wheat Board
Act to make it a voluntary institution.
I have personally acted as
an agent in the Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta Courts for many of
the farmers that have been charged that they violated the Canada Customs
Act for exporting wheat and barley without a Canadian Wheat Board export
license.
This
matter has been ongoing since 1995 and still remains before the
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
The position of the farmers
collectively has always been that the Canadian Wheat Board Monopoly in
itself is illegal and therefore that which is illegal cannot be enforced
in a criminal court.
The grounds for this defense
are simple and can be easily understood by anyone who chooses to take a
little time to grasp the argument.
It is easy to see why
Government can have a monopoly over matters and things that are in fact
owned and operated by Government Crown Corporations. This for example
would include the supply of electricity. In these examples the
generating facilities are in fact owned and built by the taxpayers and
constitute an essential service.
However the Canadian Wheat
Board Act attempts to legislate a monopoly over wheat and barley that it
does not own. The wheat and barley is the property of the farmers and
does not become the property of the Canadian Wheat Board unless it is
offered to the Board. When
the farmer chooses not to offer his wheat or barley for sale to the
Canadian Wheat Board and chooses to export his own grain to markets that
pay a price that provide him with the ability to survive financially –
he is prosecuted under the Custom Act for failing to provide to Customs
a Canadian Wheat Board Export License.
What has been so amply argued in the Courts that has now boiled down
to one issue to be heard in the Saskatchewan court of Appeal is that the
illegal Canadian Wheat Board Monopoly cannot be enforced in a criminal
court. That is exactly why the Crown has reverted to charging the
farmers under the Customs Act rather than the Canadian Wheat Board Act.
What further has become the
most interesting point in all of the proceedings that have been ongoing
for so long is that the Minister of National Revenue
does not have the authority to enforce the illegal provisions of
the Canadian Wheat Board Act. The Notice of Appeal that has been filed
in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal clearly shows that the Crown is
attempting to convict these farmers for contravening the provision of an
in house memorandum that does not have the force of law.
I
respectfully submit to you that this is a massive abuse of the
constitutional rights of the farmers and that there has been political
interference in the Court Proceedings that have been sanctioned by the
former Prime Minister.
I
therefore request that you cause democracy and the rule of law to take
its natural place and cause the Minister responsible for the Canadian
Wheat Board Act to introduce in the House of Commons an amendment to the
Canadian Wheat Board Act that insures that a voluntary provision cancels
the illusion that a monopoly exists. Anything less constitutes an
absence of the rule of law. The absence of the rule of law constitutes
dictatorship.
I
trust that you will interpret this letter in the spirit that it has been
written and that you will ensure that our system of Government in Canada
does not drift uncontrolled into dictatorship.
Yours
truly,
Daniel
P. Creighton
P.O. Box 1140
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7K 3N4
Tel:
(306) 249-4990
Fax: (306) 249-4942
Email danielcreighton@shaw.ca
c.c.
Hon. Reg Alcock –
Minster responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Hon. Stephen Harper –
Leader of the Opposition
Farmers for Justice – webmaster@farmersforjustice.com
