Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen says the country’s largest farm organization will work with whichever political party forms the next government, but there is a hint of a preference.
While the Manitoba farmer would not say which party best represents the CFA vision for the country, he did identify one key position that is at odds with the Conservative party policy – retaining the monopoly sales powers of the Canadian Wheat Board.
“I can tell you that the agricultural industry is going to look to the party that reaffirms the farmer’s ability to have orderly marketing systems,” he told reporters after listening to all parties lay out their agricultural plans during a national debate organized by the CFA.
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“The CFA position is that we have to maintain the ability to have orderly marketing systems, whether it’s the Canadian Wheat Board, supply management or single desk selling that we have in at least one province. This is about market power.”
The federation president ran unsuccessfully for a Liberal nomination in the election.
The CFA organized the Ottawa debate between the main critics for five political parties (the Green Party was included) to try to draw attention to agricultural issues. Friesen said he wanted to “put agriculture on the radar screen with both levels of government but also with the Canadian public.”
For their part, the candidates made few specific promises except to pledge their parties would support farmers and defend farm policies.
New Democrat MP Dick Proctor said the roots of the farm income crisis were sown in 1993 when three events took place – Canada signed a world trade agreement that locked farmers into an unbalanced trade deal, the Liberals were elected with a record Progressive Conservative deficit to deal with and the government-cutting Reform party replaced the PCs and NDP as the western party in Parliament.
Proctor said Reform’s message to government was “get out of our face on agriculture” and the Liberals under finance minister Martin and agriculture minister Ralph Goodale “were more than happy to accommodate the Reform party on this request.”
Conservative critic Gerry Ritz said a large part of the problem has been that Liberal policies “are not farmgate friendly. They have not been able to get cash flow out to farm families.”
Agriculture minister Bob Speller said Liberal policies are farmers’ best hope.
He began by acknowledging that agriculture “has not had the prominence in fact it should have” in the election, but said it is not the fault of the Liberals.
