By the book, this is how the political system is supposed to work. Among the voters, a need arises. The challenge is to get it onto the political agenda.
They organize for political strength, develop a message and begin to lobby for public and political support.
Inside the political system, some politicians hear the message and begin to take up the cause.
Pressure builds, the cause develops “legs” that keep it moving forward, political sympathy expands, broader media interest develops and eventually, the politicians who control the public purse or the policy levers are faced with the decision of acceding to the lobby request or explaining why it was rejected.
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Last week in Ottawa, pressure for government action on farm income was a classic “by the book” example of a political campaign.
For months, farm lobby leaders have been warning of an impending farm income crisis because of low commodity prices. It languished on the fringes of the federal political system, the subject of an occasional opposition question in the House of Commons or a warning from an affected province. But pressure was building.
By late October when agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief appeared before the Commons agriculture committee to talk about government trade policy, most of the MPs wanted to talk about farm income.
Vanclief was ready. He announced a Nov. 4 meeting with provincial agriculture ministers and national farm leaders in Ottawa. He still was loathe to admit there was a problem requiring government intervention but at least he was willing to give the advocates a higher profile forum to turn up the pressure.
As the first week of November dawned in Ottawa, political forces and players converged to make farm income one of the political issues on Parliament Hill – a rare event indeed.
In the build up to the Wednesday meeting, Opposition MPs held news conferences demanding action and the Reform Party devoted one of its Commons days to an all-day debate on the issue.
The House of Commons agriculture committee helped by inviting a variety of farm leaders to make their case for government help. The day after the federal-provincial summit, the Senate agriculture committee joined the fray by listening to the Canadian Wheat Board outline the extent of foreign subsidies.
At the end of the intense week, Vanclief could do little but say he had heard the message and will take a proposal to cabinet. He still seemed to be a reluctant convert, intent on reminding farmers there will be no federal help unless they do everything possible to help themselves first, including draining NISA accounts.
But the week accomplished its main goal – getting the farm income issue on the national political agenda.
The federal government no longer has the option of ignoring it. At some point this winter, perhaps in the February budget, the government will have to say “yes” or “no and face the political consequences. That in itself was a significant accomplishment by the farm lobby.
