Dear Editor
In the past several years there has been a concerted effort to establish an effective agricultural policy lobby in Saskatchewan. We have seen organizations state their aim is to gain economic sustainability and profitability for Saskatchewan's farmers and ranchers. Some of these groups are commodity specific and are effective in their speciality areas of grains, oilseeds, pulses or livestock. Others that are umbrella organizations have an abysmal record of doing nothing more than taking up space and spending tax payers money provided by the rural municipalities.
The group Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan, over the past few years has produced nothing close to being policy related to present to the governments agriculture departments. Why should you be interested? Simple answer - APAS is funded by your tax money. Most Saskatchewan RMs contribute an average of $8,000 to $10,000 to APAS to develop policies, meet with the federal and provincial governments and act on the behalf of the rural community and farmers of Saskatchewan.
What value do you get for your hard earned tax money? In a word - nothing. The current administration of APAS has spent the last three years chasing their tails scared of the skeletons in their closets. They have forgotten they are supposed to be working on behalf of taxpayers, farmers and ranchers. What effective policies have they created? How have they put money into the pockets of producers. Don't just take my word, visit www.apas.ca and dig deep. You will discover that the entire site if full of fluff and cartoons, nothing truly effective is going on there.
What is APAS wasting the million or so dollars per year on? It seems they are quick to blame their own shortcomings and failures on people who have not been part of this organization for years.
It's time for those who are at the helm of the APAS organization to stand up and take responsibility and accountability of their actions. Stop pointing the finger childishly outside the organization in an attempt to blame others. After all the board of directors and their executive staff are the ones sitting behind the desks in Regina. It might be helpfull to have a president who is actually a farmer, not someone who hung out the white flag with a fire-sale auction and currently resides in Regina.
Your tax dollars were placed in APAS's coffers by rural municipalities with the intended goal of positively affecting farm policies to enrich the economic viability of the rural communities and their businesses. How then is hiring two pretty young models dressed as nurses running around the Crop Production Show asking people to fill out a sheet on moisture predictions and calling it taking the pulse of agriculture achieving this goal? Most of us have another name for this type of behaviour. Stop playing doctors and nurses and save the dress costumes for Halloween parties. Is APAS that invisible to the general public that they have to resort to the "sex sells" marketing strategy? Although this strategy may titillate the minds of the APAS board, I wonder what would happen if they sent these nurses to the offices of the federal and provincial ministers?
If this sounds critical, it is. We are watching hundreds of thousands of dollars go down the drain that could be used to hire agriculture professionals who actually have a clue on policy that could help Saskatchewan agriculture. I suggest a solution to this problem. Rural municipalities that are sending their tax dollars to APAS should ask their constituents if they are in favour of this spending of their tax dollars in this manner. Are the taxpayers satisfied with their results? If not, it is time to withdraw your tax dollars and stop supporting this excessive waste. Consider the possibility of using those resources to collaboratively hire agricultural professionals who will work to achieve results for the taxpayer. Saskatchewan producers and communities need and deserve better representation for their hard earned tax dollars.
Glenn Blakley
Tantallon
