Lanark County’s outspoken rabble rouser John Vanderspank likes to push the envelope. But did he go too far?

That’s become a popular question among wheat producers after an article by Vanderspank appeared in the Farmers Forum May issue.

In an article titled "Where have all the leaders’ gone?’ Vanderspank criticizes farm leaders for not being tough on politicians.

He blasted the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for being a top-down letter-writing lobby that does not have consequences for governments who ignore farm needs.

He criticized the commodity boards for hiring a Liberal lobby group to persuade a federal Conservative government on risk management. That comment on the commodity boards put Vanderspank in hot water. Vanderspank is a director on the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board. His fellow board members say he breached his confidentiality agreement, which basically states: you don’t disagree publicly with board policy.

The wheat board directors voted to drop Vanderspank from all committees and limit his involvement to board meetings only. They also want him to resign.

"If you can’t play by the rules you resign or don’t join in the first place," said wheat board general manager Larry Shapton. He said that the board’s code of conduct binds board members from disagreeing publicly on policy. And speaking about the Daisy Group, a lobby group headed by Liberal Warren Kinsella, was a matter of policy, he said.

In a letter to Vanderspank, wheat board chairman David Whaley wrote that "John no longer enjoys the confidence of his fellow board members."

The letter states: "At the end of the day it is the vote of the majority of the board that decides board policy and all board members are obliged to support such policy. No exceptions! If John wishes to pursue his own personal agenda he is free to do so but not in his capacity as a director of the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board."

In an interview, Whaley, an Essex County farmer, said: "There are some things that can’t be broadcast to the public or any media. That’s not just our board, that’s any board. You have to be careful not to tip your hand when it comes to lobby efforts. I have board members now who don’t want to speak freely. They are wondering what the next breach (of confidentiality) is going to be. You don’t tolerate that kind of stuff or your board very quickly becomes ineffective."

Vanderspank argues, however, that public debate is healthy. "The board is not hurting me, they’re hurting my producers," he said. "There was no breach of confidentiality. They just don’t like me.

"Nothing I have said hasn’t been discussed at open meetings. I’ve never talked about finances, I’ve never talked about marketing programs or employee salaries. We met Warren Kinsella, of the Daisy Group, about two years ago at a soybean committee meeting. Nothing was confidential at that meeting. We had to go tell 10 farmers to write letters to MPs. And those in the know, said, ‘Why? I thought the Daisy Group was supposed to be on this.’ So, I had to tell them the Daisy Group wants farmers to write letters."

Former MPP in the Conservative Harris government, Gary Fox, a dairy and sheep farmer in Prince Edward County, supports Vanderspank. "There is such a thing in this country as freedom of speech," he said, noting that Vanderspank should be allowed to criticize strategy that has already been played out. "They’ve jumped all over him for nothing," Fox said. "He is talking about strategy after the fact. That’s not undermining. If there is a problem with him, it is up to his local district to replace him."

If the wheat board forces Vanderspank to resign, "we’ll just re-elect him," Apple Hill farmer Paul Vogel said. "We put John there in the first place because we wanted to put an end to the secrecy. We’ve (Glengarry County wheat growers) told him that we’ve got his back. We’re 100 per cent behind him."

Vogel sits on the county wheat board and is also the OFA county president.

Says crop farmer Darren Laplante: "John obviously has issues with the leadership on the commodity boards. He’s frustrated by it and he’s being transparent about it and getting that message out to producers that he needs our help and I back John."

"There’s no crime in being outspoken," said Morrisburg crop farmer Arden Schneckenburger, a former director of the Soybean board. "Directors have a right to give their opinion as long as they tell the board first. You can fight like cats and dogs behind closed doors. People have to know the protocol and John does. First he pounds away at an issue with the board."

He declined to say if he thought Vanderspank went too far. Schneckenburger did add, however, that "You can have a debate in the countryside about any issue. But once a decision is made by the board, farmers can still debate it, but a director then has to defend the board until a semi-annual or annual meeting if the farmers ask for a change of direction. Or the director can persuade the board to change direction at any time."

Directors should not speak publicly about big issues such as strategy to lobby government, he said. You are speaking publicly on behalf of the board and the government likes nothing better than to see dissension, he said.

He added that the wheat board should not be surprised by Vanderspank, who has been very vocal about changing the boards in the past and that was why the county delegates asked him to represent them.

"I think Spanky thought he was going to change the world but then he found out that things don’t work that quickly and that’s part of the frustration."