Henry Vos held onto his seat this weekend as Sturgeon County's representative on the Canadian Wheat Board, but it was a close call — he won by just two per cent.
Meyers Norris Penny released the results of the 2010 Canadian Wheat Board elections on Sunday. Some 13 candidates from across the Prairies had competed for five seats on the board, which held elections in its odd-numbered districts this year.
Voters cast ballots using a preferential voting system where voters ranked candidates as their first, second or third choice. Candidates need a majority of votes to win. If no candidate has more than 50 per cent after the first pass, the least popular candidate is eliminated, with his or her votes re-allocated based on each voter's next choice.
Incumbents Allen Oberg (District 5) and Kyle Korneychuk (District 7) cruised to convincing wins in their regions, snagging about 64 and 57 per cent of the vote respectively on the first pass.
Oberg thanked all candidates for running in the election and congratulated them for their successful campaigns. "Now that we have a new board in place and the election is over, we can get down to work."
Former National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells edged out his three opponents in District 3 (southern Alberta and Saskatchewan) after three passes with 55 per cent of the vote. He replaces Larry Hill, who stepped down after hitting his three-term limit. Over in District 9 (Manitoba), John Sandborn jogged past Garry Draper and Ernie Sirski on the second pass to claim William Nicholson's old seat.
But the closest race of all was right here in District 1, which covers Sturgeon County and most of northwestern Alberta. Incumbent Vos edged out challenger Dan Gauthier for the win by a mere 31 votes, equivalent to two per cent of the vote.
This shows there's a split in opinion over the future of the board in northern Alberta, Vos says. He planned to avoid the ideologically-charged single-desk/market-choice debate and focus on what really matters — making farmers money. "The marketing issue doesn't become as big of an issue if people are making good money."
Quiet election
About 41 per cent of eligible voters mailed in their ballots before the Dec. 3 deadline, says election co-ordinator Ian Craven. That's lower than the all-time high turnout of 52 per cent in 2008, but that could be due to a change in the voter's list. Unlike previous elections, farmers were eligible to get a ballot if they had shipped grain in any of the last three years, instead of the last two.
In this election the board tilted strongly in a pro-single-desk direction, Oberg says, as four of the five candidates were explicit supporters of the single-desk during their campaign. Vos did not take a position on the issue.
Vos says he plans to spend some time with his family before meeting the rest of the board for his next four-year term.
Wheat is one of the few crops that grows well in northern Alberta, Vos says, and the board had to do more to turn its falling price around.
"Last year I think we had the lowest barley acreage in 40 years," he says, reflecting on his previous term in office. It and wheat are being edged out as farmers switch to more profitable crops like canola, peas and lentils. "Farmers are voting with the acres they plant."
Vos says he plans to make board contracts easier for farmers to understand and to give farmers more choice when it comes to when they deliver their grain.
Gauthier thanked his supporters for their help and says he'll stay active in farm politics through the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, a group that promotes single-desk marketing. "I'll be here and keeping Henry's feet to the fire."
Full election results can be found at www.cwbelection.com.
