Why Chuck Strahl? It was a question being asked Monday by farm leaders, lobbyists and journalists on Parliament Hill as the news sunk in that the MP from British Columbia with no discernible background in agricultural issues had been selected as Canada’s new agriculture minister.
Strahl may have been asking himself the same question.
But there may be method to prime minister Stephen Harper’s seeming madness.
The prime minister would realize that Canada’s farm community, particularly commodity producers, is in dire condition. He also would realize that it has been a loyal Progressive Conservative/Reform/Alliance/Conservative electoral bastion for years.
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He needed to send a signal that the sector matters to the new government, both through action and through appointment of a minister with stature. Strahl will have stature and agricultural support was discussed at the first cabinet meeting.
Harper also had some problems building his cabinet. It had to be regionally representative but also a signal to areas still skeptical about him – urban Ontario, Quebec and urban British Columbia – that they are part of his government.
In other words, the wealth of rural and agricultural experience he has in caucus from the long-loyal Prairies could not be over-represented.
He also had the problem of the Ontario-prairie rivalry. If rural Ontario got the agriculture portfolio, the Prairies would be put out; if the Prairies got it, Ontario’s rural MPs would be put out.
Choosing Strahl, a popular and hard-working MP with allegiance to neither regional camp, helped resolve the issue. The respect held for him on all sides of the House of Commons could help him navigate policies through the House.
Appointing a veteran MP with no history of raging against the Canadian Wheat Board and whose voters do not have a stake in the board’s future gives the new government some breathing space in dealing with that divisive issue.
And since World Trade Organization talks are a key part of the agriculture job, Strahl’s past role as vice-chair of the foreign affairs and international trade Commons committee will give him some background.
His riding also borders Abbotsford where the avian flu issue hit hard and a nearby MP could not help but have learned something from that fiasco.
Added to all that is the fact that Strahl has proven himself a quick study, a key attribute for anyone hoping to master the complexity, width and breadth of the issues that face Agriculture Canada.
So those likely are some of the reasons Harper decided Strahl would be the new agriculture minister.
Of course, it does not mean that Strahl will be a success. The crisis in the industry, the issues facing him, the promises made by Conservatives during the campaign and the ticking clock at WTO talks are formidable challenges that will require incredibly fast learning and good political instincts.
On the other hand, he begins from a position of low expectations in the industry. If he can exceed them, he could thrive.
Perhaps his greatest challenge will be not to allow ignorance of the agricultural terrain to turn him into a captive of the Agriculture Canada officials who will be whispering their threadbare prescriptions in his ear.
