Tomb

When Calgary Farmers’ Market vendors were recently informed that their future home is the current location of the Blackfoot Heritage Market, the mood was sombre. It’s not so much that they are unhappy with their board of directors, or that they feel beaten down and that mistrust runs rampant. It’s mostly because, as usual, vendors don’t have the whole story — the details, the specifics, the nitty-gritty of the crucial money-matters; in other words, how much they will have to pay for their new digs. “I don’t know any more than when we went in there,” one vendor said after the meeting.

Even though the markets’ board of directors, a select group of vendors, signed a lease for a new location months ago, once again, most vendors are left in the dark (it took this long for them just to hear about its new location). And, as it happens with human nature, when there is a void of information, people try to fill in those dark holes.

Vendors have been informed by the board that they are on the hook for an initial, one-time, nonrefundable fee. “It won’t be six figures,” is the vague answer a board member gave vendors. One vendor has suggested he will likely be charged $30,000 to $50,000 — significantly more than the $3,000 to $6,000 vendors have paid to secure a spot at the Currie Barracks. That amount won’t entitle them to voting privileges. Or direct returns on their investment. They can’t ever get their money back.

When vendors are enlightened about the cost, which the board says will be in 30 to 60 days, they will have only three weeks to decide if they want in on the new location. It’s no wonder that some vendors are carefully examining their options: join another market, start their own, or put up and shut up.

Many vendors know only too well about the latter option. Those who speak against the markets’ powers-that-be, face bully tactics and repercussions. Take, for example, Ron Hamilton, owner of Sunworks Farms, who told Fast Forward Weekly that vendors who talk to media are punished by the board (a contract clause restricts vendors from openly speaking to media). “The control,” he said, “is almost to the point of paranoia.” Days after that quote ran, Hamilton was informed that the griddle he had been using for months to cook product samples would have to be removed because it consumed too much electricity and the dimensions are too large. Coincidence? Seems unlikely. (Note to the board: Hamilton did not tell Fast Forward Weekly this, so there is no need for punitive action.) After proving the dimensions and wattage are within market recommendations, Hamilton is allowed to use the grill — for now, that is.

Bullying is not a new market practice. Infighting and power struggles between the almighty board and vendors have been going on for a while. Less than a year ago, the market was at the heart of a lawsuit for bullying The Cherry Pit, a fruit vendor. The board accused Cherry Pit owner Sharla Dube of selling American nectarines without the permission of the market (vendors are allowed to sell foreign produce, but they must receive permission to do so). The market slapped Dube with a $10,000 fine, which The Pit claims is exorbitant because the market’s “policy and procedure, rules and regulations manual” stipulates a maximum fine of $500 — and only after the vendor’s third infraction.

Retaliating with a lawsuit last September, Dube included affidavits by an Okanagan farmer, stating that the Pit’s nectarines were, in fact, Canadian-grown. The Pit claimed that it was “convicted” by the market’s “kangaroo court.”

Court documents asserted market board president Jack Habina and general manager Darrell Komick, who was fired last May, “harassed and targeted the Plaintiffs for years for minor infractions in an effort to put The Cherry Pit at a competitive disadvantage in the Market and in the hope the Plaintiffs will simply leave the market altogether.” The Pit received previous penalties because its tables were not at the “correct” height and because tables were placed 25 cm outside the Pit’s designated space.

Within two weeks of the lawsuit’s filing, the market settled with the Pit. Dube, who will not comment on the suit, is now a board director. Kudos to her!

For customers visiting the Calgary Farmers’ Market, there is a wholesome, friendly atmosphere. Stands are overflowing with ripe, juicy fruits and vegetables. Vendors smile. The aroma of freshly-baked goodies wafts through the air. And, of course, board members paint a colourful, happy face.

“I think it went very well,” Ken Aylesworth, director of the market’s branding and operations, said of the recent meeting of the board and vendors. “People are excited.”

Upon pulling back the curtain of this Oz-like production, it is not difficult to see who the wizards are and what they are doing at the controls. Who in this dark picture desperately needs a heart, a brain and some courage.