BC Fruit Growers Association Elects New President

[Straight Shooter]

In what may have been a more democratic vote compared to previous elections, Fred Steele of Kelowna was elected President of the BCFGA over incumbent Deet Dukhia of Vernon. Hopefully the hostile battle between the Indo -Canadian fruit growers and the out-numberered non Indo-Canadians growers can be a thing of the past and the two sides can move on, or can it?

During his final speech before the election was called Dukhia opted to do half of his presentation in Punjabi and was heckled by a member at the back of the room who shouted: "Speak English."

The moment drew a gasp from those gathered and BCFGA general manager Glen Lucas immediately admonished the member.

In order for the BCFGA to work and to achieve the goals that the association needs its also needs unity.Hopefully with the experience that Mr. Steele has to offer will go a long way in getting Government assistance which is certainly needed in a shrinking industry.

[dinosaur]

Bunvir Nijjer was a wonderfull addition to BCFGA staffers, providing punjabi translations to many technical instructions. The whole thing seemed spontaneous, with Jeet Dukhia taking the initiative to repeat his speach in punjabi with the permission of his opponent Fred Steele, even without Steele having the time to organize a translation of his own. One farmer did interupt the punjabi version of Jeets speech with a loud "English please", but was admonished immediatly by Lucas to which the forum responded with overwhelming applause.
Congradulations to Glen Lucas, Bunvir Nijjer, Jeet Dukhia, Fred Steele, and vice-president Pinder Dhaliwal for a wonderful convention, and a new era of improved comunication for BCFGA! IMHO this was a big step for the organization which will help reverse declining membership with all farmers being able to be heard and understood under one forum. With this added cohesion, it will be hard for politicians to ignore the BCFGA.

[Pookybear]

BCFGA gets money from the government, i.e. the taxpayers. Canada has two official languages so why would punjabi be spoken at a meeting such as this at all? It's not like this is a private business.

[dinosaur]

The BCFGA is not an arm of government. It is funded by membership (which is mainly Punjabi), PICO, and administration work. The BC government spends less of its agricultural GDP on agriculture than any other province, so your tax dollars are safe from agriculture here.

[Hassel99]

BCFGA gets money from the government, i.e. the taxpayers. Canada has two official languages so why would punjabi be spoken at a meeting such as this at all? It's not like this is a private business.

It is a private business. Industry associations are non profits owned by the members, the members pay to be members and the association serves to further the industry.

[dinosaur]

"A new president has been voted into power for the British Columbia Fruit Grower’s Association (BCFGA) at their 125th annual convention, and he’s someone with a familiar face.

Kelowna orchardist Fred Steele won the election on Saturday over Jeet Dukhia, who stepped in as interim president following the resignation of Kirpal Boparai.

Steele is a former radio broadcaster and current apple orchardist in Glenmore. The 67-year-old has twice served as vice-president of the BCFGA and lost to Dukhia in last year’s election.

Boparai was forced to resign in December 2012 after failing to live up to terms of his contract by shipping apples to an independent packer instead of the co-op."

Did you run out of stories about fender benders? Nobody robbed ShoppersDrugMart today? Kirpal Boparai? This isint journalism its cut and pasted old news, and it still took you four days! Why even bother. Our industry is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a valley which, for the most part, takes in each others washing, but its becoming clear to me that we are castanet's embarassing mentally challenged cousin who should be locked in the attic, lest we interfere with the sale of the house. Castanet I hate your vision of this town.

[Straight Shooter]

During his final speech before the election was called Dukhia opted to do half of his presentation in Punjabi and was heckled by a member at the back of the room who shouted: "Speak English."

The moment drew a gasp from those gathered and BCFGA general manager Glen Lucas immediately admonished the member.

In an industry where over 65% of the fruit growers are Indo-Canadians and a large majority of the union work force are Indo-Canadians, it's safe to say that racism has raised its ugly head. Names such as "Raghead" and "Paki" could be heard on almost a daily basic from white growers and white employees creating a rather uneasling tension between the two cultures. Complaints to the company and the union to address this problem was brushed away as being a "Non Issue". Hopefully, and I say that very sincerely that both sides can put aside their differences and work in unity.

[Hassel99]

Hmm I don't recall a news story about the election of the president for ANY of the BC associations, construction nope, trucking nope, logging nope. The only thing that made the BCFGA interesting was the fact that the old president from 2012 broke the rules and got turfed. The election this year seems like it was back to standard operating procedure, which is a good thing, however why is that news?

[dinosaur]

[/quote]
Hopefully, and I say that very sincerely that both sides can put aside their differences and work in unity.[/quote]

I think what the people who where there and in the know saw was just that. What is a shame is that instead of covering the event, Castanet rehashes a story about Kirpal Boparai. What agendas are working here? I think this is the last time I will visit this website. So long Castanet, thanks for all the fish.