Manitoba farmers buy front-page ad in search of 'missing' MLA

A group of Manitoba farmers has declared their local MLA a "missing person" in a front-page newspaper ad, in response to what they feel is betrayal from Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pedersen, who represents the Midland constituency.

The Bipole III Landowner Committee purchased a front-page ad that ran along with a letter on Feb. 2 in the Carman-based Valley Leader community newspaper, as part of a new effort to get Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government to listen to them.

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Jurgen Kohler, a grain and oilseed farmer and chair of the committee, said Pedersen and Manitoba's premier were instrumental in helping the Bipole III group form during the Tories' time in Opposition.

But Kohler said since the PCs swept to victory in last April's election, both Pedersen and Premier Brian Pallister have been missing in action.

"We've been writing letters, as you can imagine, sending emails with no effect, no response," he said.

"It's very discouraging, very sad that they wouldn't even contact us and talk to us about our situation," he said.

The ad says Pedersen was "last seen on or about April 19th, 2016" — the date of the provincial election — "in the Carman, Manitoba area," which is part of the Midland constituency.

"During the election campaign, both [Pedersen] and the premier were actually attending a lot of our meetings and were making promises that if they couldn't change the Bipole III route, at least they would make sure that we'd get to negotiate fairly and, you know, negotiate an agreement with Manitoba Hydro," Kohler said.

He is one of several farmers who had land expropriated for Bipole III — the $2.9-billion transmission line under construction that will run down the western side of the province.

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The farmer called the 10 acres of his expropriated land "stolen property" that was taken while the former NDP government was in power.

"It's very disheartening."

Pallister Accountability Fund launched 

Kohler said the group has started fundraising and is ready to use that money for a battle if they don't get a meeting with Pedersen.

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"We've actually launched the Pallister Accountability Fund," he said.

"This day and age, people are really tired of being lied to by their government."

In a written statement to CBC, Pedersen said after the Tories took office they requested a review of the Bipole III project.

The minister, however, did not respond to the claim he has been "MIA."

He went on in the statement to attack the previous NDP government and its decision to run the Bipole III line down the west side of the province, rather than east side of Lake Winnipeg.

"This is an emotional issue and I respect the rights of these landowners to express their continued disappointment in the NDP's wrong decision," Pedersen said.