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Harper and his mercurial band of autocrats are merrily stomping on the neck of democracy.  Sadly, this isn’t news, but rather par for the course as dissent, reality based or not (I’m looking at you prison bloat omni-bus bill) will be passed hell or high water.  What makes the Wheat Board debacle such a gut-rolling spleen bursting festival of shitacular brazenness is that our government intends to ignore what the courts have to say on the matter as well.  Canada, in theory, still regards the rule of law as important as long as it follows the will of the governing party…  Rule of law be damned. A spirited opposition has risen to the task of fighting Harper’s autocrats:

“The Harper government has reneged on its promise and is now breaking the law, and we intend to hold them to it and ensure that farmers’ democratic rights are respected,” board chairman Allan Oberg said Wednesday.

The board will file an application with the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, asking it to rule Bill C-18 invalid. The bill is currently before the Senate and could become law within weeks, so the board is also asking the court for an injunction to suspend the bill until the case is heard.

The government has already suffered one legal setback over Bill C-18. A Federal Court judge ruled last week that the bill violates the Canadian Wheat Board Act, which says the government must consult farmers via a plebiscite before making major changes.

Justice Douglas Campbell made it clear, however, that his ruling was simply a statement on the government’s actions. He did not order the government to halt the bill and said he was not interfering in the legislative process.”

However, once the wheels of injustice are greased, there is little to be done to stop the nefarious deeds –

“Five government-appointed directors now in charge of the Canadian Wheat Board decided Friday morning in Winnipeg to drop the board’s bid to block legislation ending its marketing monopoly for Prairie wheat and barley.

Legislation to end the wheat board’s single-desk became law Thursday night, when Gov. Gen. David Johnston gave royal assent to Bill C-18.

With its passage, the eight farmer-elected directors of the board are gone.”

So it is done.  Of course in klassy Conservative style:

“Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was jubilant Friday morning, telling farmers gathered in Balgonie, Sask., that it’s a great day.

“This feels damn good. It’s been a long time coming,” Ritz said. “Finally you have marketing freedom.”

Farmers in the room with Ritz cheered.”

Woo, now we can enjoy the bountiful harvest of the ‘free’ market!  Soon to be followed with “all hail our new corporate agricultural overlords!!”.  Now it is just a matter of time as the real work of divide and conquer can begin.  Without the protection of the wheat board we can look forward to even more corporate agriculture and all of the ill effects associated with strict monoculture farming practices.

When the small farmers are all gone, we’ll look back and note the passage of the legislation that marked their end.  We’ll also note the cheering, for the sake of irony and the inevitable “I told you so” that is forthcoming.