OTTAWA — Finance minister Paul Martin last week promised both financial and political support for Canada’s farmers.
He promised the government will “go to war,” rhetorically-speaking, to win the wheat trade dispute with the Americans.
“Our government made it clear that we do not want a trade war with the United States,” said Martin. “We would rather negotiate. But we will go to war if we have to. … We will hold our ground in these discussions with the Americans and we will win because we are right.”
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During a day-long debate on agriculture in the House of Commons April 28, the millionaire industrialist, who owns a beef farm in Quebec’s eastern townships, rejected opposition complaints that the government has been negligent in farm policy.
“Inertia my eye,” said Martin. “Our government has not been twiddling its thumbs.”
He promised more money in direct benefits to farmers, despite a shrinking Agriculture Canada budget. “We believe that the huge government apparatus ought to be scaled back so that scarce resources can be put on the front lines where the battles are being waged.”
He promised government support for a new “whole farm” safety net program and he conceded that whatever is created in negotiations over the new insurance scheme will not be enough to cover all of farmers’ potential needs for support.
“Some sort of additional support or companion programs would be needed to deal with specific regional or commodity problems as they arise,” said Martin. “This will be part of our overall approach to safety nets.”
Opposition Bloc QuŽbŽcois MPs, who allocated a day of their House of Commons time to stage the first extended agricultural debate of the new Parliament, did not agree.
BQ spokesman Jean-Paul Marchand accused the government of ignoring farmers during its first six months of government, of striking weak trade deals and of reducing support.
In negotiations with the Americans, Canada’s stance is “defensive” and characterized by “damage control,” he said. Negotiators should never have agreed to deal on the issue of a cap on wheat exports to the U.S.
Reform MPs hammered at their themes of the need to deregulate, to give farmers more say and to reduce spending.
Reform House Leader Elwin Hermanson (Kindersley-Lloydminster) said the government should quit talking “motherhood” about its support of agriculture and be specific about where it will put its limited resources.
“I would like to know what the priorities of the federal government are with regard to consolidating federal programs,” he said, after listing a series of issues ranging from safety nets and trade war damage to research and rural sustainability.
“I am not sure there are enough dollars to cover all of them,” said Hermanson.
Martin did not reply directly to the challenge.
