Canadian farm leaders have been intimidated and bullied by the Conservatives into neutrality or support for government policies, Lib-eral agriculture critic Wayne Easter charged last week.
His outburst came in a fiery House of Commons exchange Sept. 17 with Ontario Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux, parliamentary secretary to agriculture minister Gerry Ritz.
The topic was the government’s response to the income crisis in the hog industry and Easter was denoun-cing what he considers inaction.
“This is an industry which clearly the Conservative government has decided is not worth saving or really worth assisting,” he thundered.
Read Also
Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion
Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.
Lemieux countered with a quote from Canadian Pork Council president Jurgen Preugschas supporting the announcement of government-backed loans and up to $75 million to help some producers leave the industry.
Easter, a former National Farmers Union president who led epic battles against Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments in the 1980s, exploded.
“For the parliamentary secretary to spout the words of the farm leadership is indeed sweet because to a great extent, the farm leadership in this country has been neutered by the fear and intimidation of the minister and the prime minister,” he said.
Lemieux fired back.
“Shame on the member for insulting the leadership of our farm organizations.”
He accused Easter of “polarizing and politicizing” the hog sector crisis.
On Sept. 15, Easter applied for an emergency debate but was turned down by speaker Peter Milliken.
Easter said the sector has shrunk to 14 producers in Prince Edward Island, seven in New Brunswick and four in Nova Scotia.
“We are at the point that we may not even be able to feed the one remaining plant in Atlantic Canada,” he said.
“This country is losing an industry with tremendous potential.”
Milliken said there is a problem in the industry but it is not a new emer-gency that would justify a special late-night debate by MPs. He suggested Easter try to get the issue onto a parliamentary committee agenda.
On Sept. 17 at a private session to plan an agenda for the autumn session, MPs on the agriculture committee agreed that the hog industry calamity and the government response will be the topic of hearings.
