Liberal Frank Valeriote mused during the most recent federal election campaign that he hoped he would be back on the House of Commons agriculture committee if re-elected.
Valeriote, whose Guelph, Ont., riding includes a university with strong agricultural connections, was picked in the last Parliament to be one of the Liberals on the agriculture committee.
He found the work fascinating and wanted back.
Be careful what you wish for.
Liberals came a distant third in the election and are reduced to one seat on House of Commons committees.
Last week, Valeriote was appointed Liberal agriculture critic in the new Parliament. He will be the only Liberal on the committee as it wrestles with ending the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, reforming the Canadian Grain Commission, debating the outlines of the next federal-provincial agreement on farm programs and perhaps picking up on a study on biotechnology interrupted by the election.
Long-time Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter got his wish by being moved from agriculture to international trade critic.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m up to the challenge,” said Valeriote, who is a lawyer.
“I’m an urban guy and I have a steep learning curve, no doubt. But if you don’t get stuck in the weeds on this file, it’s not difficult to see the big issues that need attention.”
He said being the sole Liberal on the committee was not what he had in mind.
“When I said I wanted back on the committee, I meant as a member with Wayne being the lead guy,” he said.
“I didn’t mean to be the Liberal on the committee, period, but here I am. I have tremendously big shoes to fill.”
Although he developed a reputation on the last agriculture committee as a relatively non-partisan MP, the second-term politician said he expects tough battles in the new Parliament as the Conservatives use their majority to push through policies he believes undermines the farm economy.
“I really believe this government is driven by ideology and not by the facts in any file,” Valeriote said.
“(Prime minister Stephen) Harper creates his own reality where facts don’t matter. Some of what they are proposing will hurt farmers.”
However, he acknowledged that rural voters, including farmers, overwhelmingly supported the Conservatives in the last election.
“I don’t think this agenda is good for farmers but to a certain extent, they are the authors of their own misfortune,” said Valeriote. “They hear the platform, they see little in it for them and yet they still vote Conservative. Their vote seems more based on ideology rather than self-interest.”
Valeriote said his riding may be urban, but its people care about rural issues.
“They increasingly are concerned about health, they understand that health is a real connection in my riding to the farm issues I now will be representing in Parliament.”
