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August 8, 2012

Long Fight Over

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and long-time free grain marketing farmer Rick Strankman of Altario hold a copy of a newspaper almost a decade old that shows Strankman after he and four others were released from jail in Lethbridge on November 7, 2002. ©Provost News Photo.

Photo in August 8 edition of The Provost News.

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PM Pardons ‘Courageous Farmers’
. . . as Crowd Marks Change to Free Grain Marketing
An estimated crowd of 700 people who gathered at a farm on Wednesday, August 1 heard Prime Minister Stephen Harper pardon farmers who suffered after battling the Canadian Wheat Board and the federal government as far back as over 15 years ago.

Protestors at the time had been charged and some spent jail time over the dispute which some saw as a fight over property rights.

Harper was one of the guest speakers at an event called ‘Grain Marketing Freedom Day’ at the Walde farm south of Kindersley, Sask.—about a two hour drive southeast of Provost.

The celebration was organized by those who fought against the compulsory use of the Canadian Wheat Board to market wheat and barley in Western Canada.

August 1 marked the coming into force of Bill C-18, the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act—the first day that the CWB was to be used only by farmers who choose to do so.

Farmers in the west can now sell their grain on the open market to whomever and whenever they want to.

The voluntary Canadian Wheat Board will still operate and be supported by the federal government for the next five years.

Rick Strankman of Altario was one of the people who was sent to jail in Lethbridge. He told The Provost News after the pardon that “The law was wrong. The Conservative government recognized that . . . (and) that acknowledgement was enough for me. It was a great day. It’s all good. I am happy.”

Read the rest of this story in the print edition of The Provost News.



Also in the August 8 print edition of The Provost News:

• Three communities in the area over the weekend marked centennial celebrations including Chauvin, Macklin and Consort.

• Provsot Man Charged After Crashing Through Ceiling

• Old Macklin House Has Varied History

• Government Transfers Wealth Away from Farmers Says Friends of the Wheat Board

• Woman Wants More Discussions Before Wind Turbine Farm Gets OK

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Street Spokesman
This week we ask: "All Farmers Can Now Market Grain How They Want. What’s Your Reaction to That?"
. . . and readers we heard answers from were Glen Harrison, Jaron Bye, Al Knutson and Sharon Smith. Check out the
August 8 edition of The Provost News for their answers.
Want to Subscribe to The Provost News? Click here.

This, along with many other stories and pictures can be found in this week's edition of The Provost News.
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