Jack Ramsay, Alberta Reform MP, is a former RCMP officer with a reputation for tenacity and a tough law-and-order stance on the justice system.
As the Reform Party justice critic, he campaigns relentlessly to have tougher sentences handed out to violent criminals and tougher laws written for young offenders.
Usually, this straight-talking former cop is to be found among those who believe the Canadian system is too gentle with criminals.
But when it comes to the treatment of Prairie farmers who are fighting the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, Ramsay has decided to sing a different tune.
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He believes the government is abusing the justice system in pursuit of political opponents, in this case Andy McMechan of the Farmers for Justice.
After the early August Reform caucus meeting in Ottawa where the wheat board issue was discussed as one of Reform’s priority issues for the fall session of Parliament, Ramsay decided to broaden the party’s attack.
He complained that McMechan, jailed in early July for breaking conditions of bail, is being treated more harshly than the violent criminals who walk the streets on bail.
The Manitoba farmer is in jail without having been convicted of a crime other than “trying to sell his own grain to generate more income for himself, his family and the Canadian economy,” says the Reform MP.
In a statement issued by his office, Ramsay said McMechan’s treatment “brings into question the integrity of justice officials and the entire justice system.” In a later interview, the MP said this should be a case for “alternative measures” under the law.
“I just think this is an over-zealous use of the law, to put in jail a man who has not been convicted of anything and who is not charged with a crime of violence,” said Ramsay.
“I see real unfairness here.”
He did not go so far as to accuse the Liberals of politicizing the justice system to hound their enemies.
But Ramsay did accuse the system of being out of kilter.
“It seems to me in this case the justice system is being used to hand out punishment rather than justice,” he said.
If Ramsay adds the wheat board to his list of priority justice issues to pursue when the House of Commons reconvenes in mid-September, it would be a sign that agricultural issues have moved up a notch on the Reform pre-election agenda.
So far, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale has taken the government heat on the wheat board issue.
Through a combination of studied avoidance and delaying tactics, he has managed to emerge relatively unscathed.
Justice minister Allan Rock is a different matter. He likes to delve into the detail of questions.
He is not a politician who likes to dodge the essence of the question.
He is not an expert on the nuances of Prairie agricultural politics.
In any debate about government strategy and tactics on the wheat board issue, Reform might find Rock the loose cannon it has been seeking.
