The House of Commons agriculture committee will gear up next week for a new parliamentary session with new faces and a bushel of issues to deal with.
Manitoba Conservative James Bezan hopes to return as chair.
“I would like to and I hope I get the support of colleagues from other parties to do that,” he said in early November.
Based on concerns raised by farmers in his Selkirk-Interlake riding north of Winnipeg, Bezan said the income crisis in the livestock sector and rising production costs for farmers could be issues the committee tackles in public hearings.
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“I can see those as being pertinent topics for consideration.”
Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said his priority will be to get new agriculture minister Gerry Ritz before the committee to answer tough questions about government policy and actions.
“We need some answers on an urgent basis about what the government is going to do for the livestock sector that is suffering and are they going to obey the law and leave the Canadian Wheat Board intact,” he said.
“And we’re six months away from the end of programming under the APF (agricultural policy framework). Other than promises of continuity, do they really have agreement or a plan to keep those programs going with an extension? Farmers need to know.”
Easter said questions also have been raised about consumer confidence in the safety of Canadian food and food imports.
“We really have to ask if CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) is doing its job and if it has the resources to do its job properly.”
The committee may also have to deal with government proposals to update the Canada Grain Act and perhaps to modernize the governance structure of the Canadian Grain Commission.
Ritz has promised to introduce before year-end amendments to the grain act and if the bill receives speedy second reading approval from the House as expected, it also would become a major item for committee hearings.
In the new parliamentary session, the agriculture committee will have a significant influx of new MPs.
Eastern Ontario Conservative Guy Lauzon, the new parliamentary secretary to agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, will lead Conservative forces, replacing Saskatchewan MP David Anderson.
Former revenue minister Carol Skelton from Saskatchewan joins the committee. She left cabinet after announcing she will not run in the next election.
Alberta Conservative Brian Storsetch from the Westlock-St. Paul riding near Edmonton also joins the committee.
The Liberals have replaced veteran New Brunswick MP Charles Hubbard with southwestern Ontario MP Lloyd St. Amand, who represents the Brant riding southwest of Toronto.
And when wheat board issues are on the agenda, Anderson and NDP CWB critic Pat Martin from Winnipeg almost certainly will be there.
