Federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief said it was the toughest issue he has faced.
Opposition leader Preston Manning said it need not have happened if the Liberal government was smarter and reduced taxes.
New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough said farming is not a business but a “calling” that needs government support.
And Progressive Conservatives urged the government to be generous.
The scene was a rare late-night House of Commons “emergency” debate Nov. 30 and the topic was falling incomes in grain and hog sectors.
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Rookie Nova Scotia Tory MP and Christmas tree producer Gerald Keddy sparked the debate and Manitoba MP Rick Borotsik used it to promise Tory support to the government if it made assistance available this winter.
“Farmers cannot wait,” said Borotsik, the only elected prairie Tory in the Conservative caucus. “They need our support and they need it now. We know there is a problem, now let us get on with it.”
Although he was several weeks away from being able to promise a specific package approved by cabinet, Vanclief came closer than ever to saying help is on the way.
“I know the situation that too many Canadian farmers are in today,” said the agriculture minister, hours before he flew to Washington for talks with Americans on trade issues. “I can tell the House in all sincerity that I have never worked harder on any issue than I have on this and will continue to do so.”
The Quebec election occupied much of the political attention in Ottawa that night and sometimes as few as two were in the Commons for the speeches.
But through the four-hour debate, MPs from rural and urban Canada showed up to proclaim the need for farm aid.
Manning left a large question about whether Reform will support the government if it announces an aid package this month without a commitment to tax reduction and a stronger effort to end foreign agricultural subsidies.
“Basically, our position is this,” he said. “If the finance minister will clearly declare that the forthcoming budget will contain broad-based tax relief for all Canadians, including the agricultural sector, then the official opposition would be prepared to support a temporary aid package as part of that long-term solution.”
But if the government offers only cash support, “we will declare that Band-Aid insufficient and continue to fight for the long-term solutions upon which the future prosperity of Canadian agriculture truly rests.”
McDonough said the government must offer immediate aid.
Hopeful occupation
“Agriculture is one of the most hopeful and visionary of all occupations,” the NDP leader said. “More than an occupation, it is a calling.”
Spring is a time of hope, she said. “If we fail (to act), it will be instead a spring of despair. We can make it a spring of hope but we must act quickly and we must act now.”
In the dark of night, just before the calendar turned over a new month, MPs finished the debate and drifted away to hear the final results of the Quebec vote.
“A motion like this can be very helpful in informing the public about the serious situation that our farmers presently face,” Vanclief had said.
“I know how desperate too many producers are. They fear for their future and for their ability to provide for their families.”
