A Parliament Hill hot seat is waiting for the chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission if this minority Parliament is not cut short by a winter election call.
The House of Commons agriculture committee decided Feb. 12 to call Elwin Hermanson before it for questions about his credentials for the job, his ties to the governing Conservatives and his ability to be politically neutral.
The problem for some MPs seems to have started Feb. 7 when The Western Producer published an opinion column in which Hermanson promoted the benefits of Canada Grain Act amendments currently before Parliament.
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Easter said in an interview it was an inappropriate political intervention.
“This legislation is before Parliament, it is contentious legislation and Mr. Hermanson has no business advocating for it,” said Easter, who served in Parliament with Hermanson from 1993-97 when Hermanson was a Reform MP.
Besides serving as MP, Hermanson, a former farmer from Beechy, Sask., has also led the Saskatchewan Party. He became CGC chief commissioner Jan. 21, a job that pays $204,300 to $240,400 a year.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, who appointed Hermanson, was Hermanson’s constituency president when he was MP and worked in his constituency office.
In his published opinion column, Hermanson said the proposed legislation “reflects the needs and the will of grain producers and the industry at large.”
He wrote of his “strong support” for the government proposals.
“Let there be no doubt bill C-39 will provide producers with a more cost-effective grain quality assurance system.”
Opposition MPs have a different view of the bill.
They accuse the Conservatives of introducing a one-sided package of amendments that would weaken the grain commission mandate, which is now to operate in the best interests of farmers, and tilt the commission toward agri-business players in the grain business.
In addition, by proposing to eliminate inward weighing and grading of grain moving from country elevators to transfer or export terminals, the legislation would effectively eliminate one-third of the CGC’s 600 staff positions.
The Agriculture Union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the 200 inspectors who would lose their jobs, is demanding that the bill be withdrawn.
Last week, Agriculture Union national vice-president Bob Kingston included Hermanson’s article in a package of material he prepared for a meeting with Liberal rural MPs.
“They were supportive,” he said. “There are serious concerns. We don’t know when it will come back for debate or if it will pass this Parliament, but we will continue to fight it.”
Bill C-39 has had little debate and almost certainly will not be approved by this minority Parliament. The opposition majority opposes it and Easter is insisting that extensive cross-country committee hearings would be needed before it could be put to a final vote.
He said Hermanson must recognize that he no longer is a politician but a senior public servant.
“He can have those views privately, but I believe it is inappropriate to voice them as part of the political debate,” said the Liberal MP.
“We need a chief commissioner who has some independence from the government of the day and who sees his role as implementing the legislation that exists, rather than trying to undermine it,” he said.
