A North Dakota state senator says Ottawa and Washington should let states and provinces solve agricultural issues on their own.
“We’ve got to start doing these things ourselves,” said Ken Solberg of Rugby, during a recent visit to the Saskatchewan legislature.
The visit followed an earlier trip to North Dakota by several Saskatchewan Party MLAs.
Solberg said differences of opinion are usually not between Bismarck, the North Dakota capital, and Regina, for example, but between Washington and Ottawa.
“If we continue to talk, we can continue to have communication that’s going to flow to the east to Ottawa and D.C.,” he said.
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States are pushing for more say in decisions made by the capital, he said, and provinces should do the same.
Solberg, a senator since 1991, said controversial agricultural legislation that went through the North Dakota legislature earlier this year was not aimed at Canada, but at the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. It was designed to catch attention, and it did, he said.
“The EPA from Washington made three trips to Bismarck, North Dakota,” he said. “I don’t think they knew we existed before this.”
Solberg, who operates a livestock auction mart and pastures some cattle, cites livestock movement as a main concern.
He said he has seen, in 34 years in the livestock business, one anaplasmosis case in his state. He has never seen a positive bluetongue test. Yet, Ottawa requires these tests for cattle coming into Canada.
He also said the northern states and western provinces should be working to standardize regulations.
Dan D’Autremont, a Saskatchewan Party MLA, said meetings with the North Dakotans are a chance to build bridges.
“They understand that we have a lot of trade back and forth and that trade works best when it’s in a friendly manner rather than when it’s being forced,” he said.
Agriculture minister Eric Upshall said he and Solberg spoke bluntly during a short meeting about concerns like chemical pricing and subsidies.
He said a working committee will likely be set up to identify problem areas and continue talks.
“There has to be a better way of finding solutions,” Upshall said, adding that sub-national level discussion will probably yield faster and better solutions.
Last week, a Saskatchewan delegation headed by intergovernmental affairs minister Berny Wiens addressed trade issues during a meeting in North Dakota.
“We agreed to work together on common solutions to trade problems that we can implement locally or, where appropriate, carry a common message to our respective federal governments.”
