Behind the Lines: December 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Our writers at Better Farming have been writing about stray voltage longer than there has been a Better Farming.
While a reporter with the now defunct Farm & Country magazine in the mid-1990s, Robert Irwin filed a freedom of information request to access Ontario Hydro documents about management of stray voltage on farms. The provincial utility cited "competitive reasons" for attempting to keep the information secret. When the information arrived after a time-consuming appeal process, some of it was blacked out.
Since then, the agricultural community has come a long way. The Ontario Legislature passed a law in 2007 to deal with stray voltage on farms and, recently, the Ontario Energy Board recommended that the standards for allowable current be reduced by 20-fold.
Former Kent County dairyman Lee Montgomery says that he feels "vindicated."
He had his power shut off for six months in 1994 after a 10-year dispute with Ontario Hydro over stray voltage but, as our cover story beginning on page 14 shows, there is still more work to be done.
Exactly one year ago, Better Farming published its first article on Pigeon King International Inc. and the story continues to unfold. At our website (www.betterfarming.com), we have published numerous stories about the Pigeon King saga, in particular after its owner, Arlan Galbraith, folded the company last June.
Our October cover story, informing readers about how to tell if a business opportunity is legitimate, caught Galbraith's attention. His letter to the editor is on page 6.
Beside it is a letter from former PKI employee Bill Top with an opposing point of view. At press time, we learned that while the police investigation is still ongoing, the court had appointed an interim receiver in an effort to recover as much money as possible from Galbraith personally. The receiver can enter his property, seize his money, house, or automobile and even redirect his mail. We hope this brings some comfort to those who continue to suffer after putting money and trust into this scheme.
Some investors have retained lawyers in an effort to recover whatever they can.
For example, Robert Siebring, a former contract pigeon grower and holding-barn operator from Palmerston in North Perth, was also pursuing Galbraith personally through the courts for more than $1.5 million. Those actions are on hold now while the receiver tries to follow the money.
Readers may have seen the feature on CTV's W-FIVE which, as we go to press, was scheduled to air on Saturday, Nov. 15. What you didn't see was the amount of time and effort Better Farming staff invested in handling requests for background from CTV researchers during the past summer and fall. We did this because we believe there are still lessons to be learned as the PKI fiasco unfolds. Many lost their life savings and in somecases even their farms.
Unfortunately both the farm and mainstream media were involved in promoting PKI and it's only fitting that the media now play a role in helping to prevent a reoccurrence.
You can read more about the receiver's actions, along with other breaking farm news at www.betterfarming.com.
Finally, readers will remember our October feature on Ottawa's problems with its sewage system and its massive discharge of untreated sewage into the Ottawa River over 11 days in August, 2006. The city was charged with two contraventions of the Ontario Water Resources Act and, in October, pleaded guilty and was fined $450,000. BF
Robert Irwin & Don Stoneman