LUNDAR, Man. – They were likely some of the most unusual questions two-term Conservative MP James Bezan has ever faced.
Can you control the weather?
Can you give us money so we can buy hay for our cows?
Can you lower the cost of farm machinery? 
The questions came Oct. 1 from Grade 3 and 4 students at Lundar School, where teacher Patty Goranson has been teaching about the federal election.
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When she invited Manitoba MP and House of Commons agriculture committee chair Bezan to drop in unannounced, the kids were ready with questions they had written when they thought it was just a theoretical exercise.
When he appeared in the flesh, the students were shocked and giggly but soon got down to the business of asking their questions.
Several were about Afghanistan but many were farm related, reflecting the fact that many of them come from farms.
Bezan took the questions seriously.
When a student worried about how her dad could buy hay to feed the cows after an extremely wet summer in the Interlake, he told her he has been working with agriculture minister Gerry Ritz to find a way to get money to farmers.
“We all have to find a better way to get cash to farmers so they can buy hay for their cows,” said Bezan, a cattle producer.
When a student asked Bezan if he could lower the price of fuel so his parents could afford to take him to hockey games, the MP said the Conservative government is promising to toughen competition rules to control the “price fixing” that is now prevalent in the fuel-pricing business.
Bezan conceded that as an MP or government member, he could not increase the price of cattle or control the weather.
However, he told the students they should keep up their interest in politics because it is an important part of determining the kind of country they will live in when they grow older.
Goranson said the eight- and nine-year-old students have been excited about the election. Their classroom wall was papered with posters featuring the national party leaders, local candidates and the responsibilities of each level of government.
Bezan’s visit to the enthusiastic and knowledgeable elementary school class coincided with a survey for the Dominion Institute, a Canadian history promoting group, that reported most young adults do not plan to vote in this election. More often than not, they said it was because they did not know enough about the issues.
“Less than 44 percent of voters under 24 actually cast a ballot in the last federal election, and that number will probably go down rather than up on Oct. 14,” said institute official Marc Chalifoux. “This is extremely troubling.”
Bezan autographed the students’ notebooks and posed for a class photo.
