THE Parliament Hill political verdict on the Pest Management Regulatory
Agency is in and it is not flattering: the PMRA needs a political shake
up, better management and a more farmer-friendly attitude.
Government Liberal backbenchers agree, as illustrated by the Liberal
caucus task force on agriculture.
Opposition MPs agree, as illustrated by the all-party House of Commons
agriculture committee report unaccompanied by the usual opposition
minority dissent.
Farm groups and lobbyists agree in spades, as illustrated by the parade
Read Also
Worrisome drop in grain prices
Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.
of farm and industry witnesses who have told various committees that
the PMRA is broken and needs fixing.
Chemical manufacturers say the agency is too slow and bureaucratic.
Farmers say it is too slow and makes little effort to ensure Canadian
farmers have the same chemical products their American competitors do.
Environmentalists say it has made too little progress in fast-tracking
introduction of less toxic products into the market.
Only PMRA brass seem to believe things are getting better and that the
agency is meeting goals and in some cases beating the United States in
speed of registrations and re-evaluations.
So surely, with that almost-unanimous outpouring of criticism from all
sides, Ottawa will respond quickly.
Think again.
PMRA reform is low on the Liberal political agenda and particularly the
agenda of the responsible minister, health minister Anne McLellan.
Don’t expect PMRA reform soon.
It would take a considerable commitment of political capital and
energy. It would take a considerable amount of political attention and
time allotment.
- one of the above are likely to be available in the near future.
Here’s why.
McLellan, a relatively new health minister who has shown little natural
affinity for farm issues, has a plate full of controversial issues that
have a much higher profile for the Liberals than does reform of an
agency that is obscure to most Canadians not involved in the food or
chemical production business.
She has the constant battle of dealing with provinces over the
contentious issue of the Canada Health Act, health funding and the
autumn delivery of Roy Romanow’s report on reforming medicare. This is
McLellan’s top priority and one of the government’s key issues as it
looks to re-election.
She introduced legislation May 9 on regulation of new technologies in
reproduction. As an issue loaded with the symbolism of right-to-life
debates of old, this will be highly contentious and time consuming.
Since April, she has had new pesticides regulation legislation before
the House of Commons and with its resonance both in urban and rural
Canada, it is a topic that commands her attention.
Add to that two other points:
- Despite the fact that she was raised on a farm and has a
dairy-farming sister in Nova Scotia, Edmonton lawyer and law professor
McLellan seems uncomfortable dealing with the detail of
farmer-sensitive issues.
- The parliamentary session is expected to end this summer to allow the
Queen to open a new session with a Throne Speech in the fall. Hold-over
issues will take a back seat to Liberal dreams of what hot button
issues must be pressed to win a fourth consecutive term.
PMRA reform doesn’t sound like one of them.
