BELLEVILLE, Ont. – Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief, ever the Liberal optimist, looked at the party’s election platform and saw a glass half full for farmers.
“We leave the door open for more help if needed,” Vanclief said at his campaign headquarters Nov. 2, the day after the Liberals published the latest version of the red book. “I would tell farmers that our record shows we will be there when it is needed. The work continues.”
Farm leaders were less optimistic. For them, the red book glass was less than half full.
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They had hoped for a Liberal commitment to more help. Instead, they read, “a new Liberal government will continue striving to provide farmers with the tools to succeed financially, while protecting the environment and water quality.”
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen said the Liberals failed farmers in their platform.
“They had a chance to show some leadership and farmers expected that,” he said in a Nov. 3 interview from his Manitoba farm. “I don’t think they did this. I think farmers will be bitterly disappointed.”
Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Jack Wilkinson announced that because of political inaction, Ontario farmers will soon be out on the highways demonstrating.
“The final straw came Wednesday when … the Liberal’s red book three failed to mention the desperate financial situation that has developed for Ontario’s farmers, or any improvements to funding government safety net and disaster assistance programs.”
The OFA said it would not telegraph in advance where the demonstrations will take place.
Vanclief said he can understand farmer frustration and does not condemn those who feel demonstrations are the way to get attention.
“I can see that when anyone is under a level of stress, they seek ways to exhibit that stress. That is one way.”
But Vanclief also urged farmers to consider the Liberals’ proposals, their support of farmers in the past and the prime minister’s promise that more help may be on the way.
The Liberal platform promises rural infrastructure spending, more capital for the Farm Credit Corp., negotiations to reduce world trade barriers, more research funding, and support for value-added food products.
Vanclief said farmers should not have expected specific dollar commitments to agriculture in the platform because it is a statement of general values. Instead, they should trust Liberal promises to do what has to be done.
When he released the platform in Ottawa last week, prime minister Jean ChrŽtien was asked why it did not include precise funding promises for many areas.
He used agriculture as an example in his response.
“We talk about agriculture,” he said. “What we say is that the money will be available to meet the crisis that they face regularly. The money will be there.”
