What should we know

Old, semi-retired farmers seem to have more time on their hands to watch the news, government inquiries, watch things that are demanded to be inquired and to think about what is being told and what information is never mentioned. The next question that comes to mind is who is we?
The first big inquiry that was televised was about the truckers occupation of Parliament Hill. Early in that inquiry, both police forces and city officials were grilled as to why all those big trucks were allowed to park on and block Parliament Hill? It was hardly mentioned that there were more surveillance cameras in that section of Ottawa than anywhere in Canada. Next time you visit that section of Ottawa, look up at all the cameras on all the buildings in that vicinity. Many of those buildings are occupied by various offices of our federal government.
Another question that was asked over and over was, “Why was the blockade allowed to sit that close to Parliament Hill for weeks on end?” With all those cameras and many of the police with body cams one could be quite sure that every vehicle and person there was not only on camera regularly, but during the several weeks of occupation, all vehicles and people were identified and much information was cataloged for future use if needed.
Although there were several groups identified both in the attack on Capitol Hill in the US on the previous Jan. 6 and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and at the blockade international border crossing. Those groups were not identified in the inquiry into the occupation of Ottawa. Canada has a very effective spy agency who keeps track of this type of movement. Some secret information is better kept secret.
Recently a hot button topic that is still being talked about by many is, “How much interference did foreign governments have on the results of our elections?” Again, Canada has a very good intelligence agency that keeps track of not only foreign diplomats and foreign residents, but also may have some very sensitive information on our own politicians. Once again, this information is very secret and guarded within the agency. It is important that all our politicians be watched whether they are red, blue, orange, green or whatever stripe they represent. Much of this secret information is never released in a public inquiry. Much information is known about groups that promote tyranny and work against democracy. None of this is or should be released to the public and made available to those who are against democracy.
There is another inquiry into the profits of huge chain food stores. Because of my past experience as a member of our provincial milk board, I was made very aware of how milk was marketed in Canada and other countries. Canada remains the only country in the world that uses a supply management system to determine the price of milk that the farmer receives. Every province in Canada uses a cost of production formula. Throughout Canada, a representative sample of dairy farms are chosen at random. Some small, some very large, some medium size to submit all expenses and incomes are tracked from these farms and scrutinized by the Consumers Association, the Wholesale’s Association, the Retailer’s Association, and the government before any rise or lowering in the price of milk paid to the farmers. Absolutely everything from the interest rate charged on financing, to the cost of seed planted, to the price of soap to wash the milking equipment, to labour costs, to repair costs for buildings and farm equipment, to the price of fuel and another ten pages of expenses that contribute to the cost to produce milk. Even the wages that are allowed to be charged for management and manual labour are scrutinized by all who have access to the figures.
As I watched the grocery store executives being grilled by the various politicians and other members of the commission, I noticed many questions that were never asked. Even though some executives receive substantial bonuses, it was not mentioned whether those bonuses were included in the costs associated with running the group, or was it paid from profits.
I was quite amused last week, when some wannabe food price expert was complaining about the price of eggs in Canada. Eggs are also marketed by the supply management system and the largest cost to produce eggs is the price of grain. Chickens eat grain not grass. Everybody knows that grain prices have skyrocketed as did fuel and fertilizer prices which are the largest costs to the grain farmer. That wannabe food price expert never mentioned that at that same time last week when he was criticizing egg prices in Canada. Egg prices in the mid-western United States reached a high of $11 American per dozen. That’s about more than $15 dollars per dozen Canadian.
Yes, there are many things that we should demand to be informed about. There is also some very important information that some Canadians should know, but there should also be some very serious screening done before releasing it to every ear in the world or even within our own parliament.

Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com