DURING his first sojourn in Parliament a quarter century ago, Liberal backbencher Ralph Goodale earned the title “Dr. No.”
Old habits apparently die hard.
In his current incarnation as a senior cabinet minister, he often seems to play that role. When it comes to Goodale, prairie grain farmers have been getting accustomed to the meaning of the word.
First, back to those heady days in the 1970s when young Goodale was elected to Parliament in the 1974 Liberal revival under Pierre Trudeau.
There were three Saskatchewan Liberals in those days – cabinet minister and Saskatchewan Liberal godfather Otto Lang, North Battleford veterinarian Cliff McIsaac and lawyer Goodale, a political disciple of justice minister, later transport minister and Canadian Wheat Board minister Lang.
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A year after his election as a 24-year-old, Goodale was singled out by Trudeau as an up-and-comer. He was appointed parliamentary secretary to transport minister Lang and the next year, parliamentary secretary to the president of the privy council.
In that latter role, it was Goodale’s job to be in the House of Commons when opposition MPs moved motions that required unanimous consent to move forward. His former radio broadcast voice would boom out “no” when the speaker asked for unanimous consent. Dr. No.
Slow forward to the 1990s, when Goodale made it back to Ottawa after more than a decade of frustrating political attempts: a brief stint in the Saskatchewan Legislature, a largely unsuccessful time as provincial Liberal leader, a stint in the wilderness as an insurance industry executive and back to Ottawa in 1993.
He made it into Jean Chrétien’s first cabinet as Saskatchewan’s only experienced Liberal MP. He was the only supporter of Chrétien rival Paul Martin to be in cabinet, besides Martin himself.
After a term as agriculture minister, 1993-97, he has toiled as natural resources minister, also responsible for the wheat board.
And as the luck of the Irish would have it, he has become a higher-level Dr. No.
1995: No, prairie farmers, you cannot have the Crow rate subsidy anymore. My friend Paul Martin has killed it. Here’s some transition money and please diversify.
2000-01: No, Cape Breton coal miners, you cannot have that industry anymore. It is yesterday’s news, uncompetitive and costly. Here’s some transition money and a plea that you learn another skill, take a job at a call centre or buy a computer.
2001: No, prairie grain farmers, you should not expect taxpayers to continually pay for your addiction to growing grain that cannot pay its way on world markets. I’m not saying you have to leave grain farming but I am suggesting you look around for a better, more stable economic future. Here’s a booklet on the 12 steps to ending your addiction to grain.
Step one is realizing there are higher-value crops out there.
Step two is considering investing in value-adding enterprises.
Step three is calling the Farm Credit Corp. and its new loan mandate.
Step four is to get high just thinking about niche markets.
Step five is …
