Stewart takes over | Outgoing minister cites tax reduction, crop insurance and AgriStability as highlights
Saskatchewan’s new agriculture minister said last week he was a little concerned about filling his predecessor’s shoes.
Lyle Stewart, MLA for Thunder Creek, took over from Bob Bjornerud after the May 25 cabinet shuffle.
He immediately paid tribute to Bjornerud, noting his popularity within the agricultural community. Bjornerud had been the Saskatchewan Party’s only agriculture minister since it took office in 2007.
“In my view he’s the best minister of agriculture that I ever recall in this province or any place,” Stewart said after he was sworn into premier Brad Wall’s new 18-member cabinet.
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“That’ll be part of my job, to live up to Bob’s reputation.”
Stewart brings a lifelong career in farming and ranching to the job. He and his son operate the family farm west of Pense, Sask.
However, he also has a long interest in politics, serving on the school board and rural municipal council before he was first elected an MLA in 1999.
In opposition, he was an interim leader of the Saskatchewan Party and critic for agriculture and the economy.
He was minister for enterprise and innovation after the party formed government in 2007.
Stewart said one of the reasons he got into politics was to see more economic development in the province.
“I hope to be able to link economic development and agriculture a little more directly (now).”
He said research and value-added are key components of that goal, but added it is too early to be more specific.
“I’m very excited about the role. Agriculture is my first love, of course.”
Stewart said Wall called him the afternoon of May 24 to offer him the portfolio.
While he and other cabinet hopefuls spent an anxious day, Bjornerud relaxed, knowing a call wasn’t coming.
He had told Wall in March he didn’t want to be in the next cabinet. He will stay on as the MLA for Melville-Saltcoats.
“I’m comfortable with it,” he said of the decision.
Bjornerud said it’s a good time for someone new to take over the job.
Prices and optimism are strong and the tension in rural Saskatchewan that characterized his first days in cabinet has been letting up over the last while.
Drought was a key concern when he first walked into his office in 2007, and the livestock sector was asking for help because prices were so low.
The frustrating part of being in cabinet was the lack of control over things like that, Bjornerud said. People turn to their governments when they are up against the wall, he added.
He said governments can help to a degree, but they can’t solve all the problems.
“This is a better answer to all the concerns producers have — where the marketplace dictates that they’re getting a better return,” Bjornerud said.
Still, he is proud of government initiatives that made a difference to farmers, including the reduction of education tax on farmland, changes to crop insurance and moving the administration of AgriStability to the province.
“It hasn’t improved the program a whole bunch, but it’s improved the processing time,” he said.
Bjornerud said he wouldn’t offer Stewart advice lest it backfire.
However, he noted it’s a tough portfolio.
“It’s an experience I wouldn’t give up for anything,” he said.
“At times, I would like every farmer or rancher to have had the opportunity to be ag minister for a week. You get a whole new perspective.”
