Last week’s emergency House of Commons debate on “the crisis facing agriculture” was notable more for the fact it happened than for the light it shed on the farm situation.
Since Parliament opened Sept. 17, it has dealt with little other than fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
But on Sept. 27, it set aside more than three hours to debate a motion for an emergency farm debate proposed by Canadian Alliance agriculture critic Howard Hilstrom.
Speaker Peter Milliken delayed setting time for the debate for more than a week while the House concentrated on terrorism and security issues.
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“I am pleased that this has come before the committee of the whole,” Hilstrom said when debate finally started. “This is in addition to the serious issue of terrorism with which we are dealing.”
Later, Manitoba Alliance MP and former provincial attorney general Vic Toews tied the food issue directly to the week’s theme of national security.
He said any country needs a secure supply of food. Liberal neglect is putting that into question in Canada.
“This is a national security issue that the government simply does not recognize,” said Toews.
For the most part, the emergency debate covered the same ground as most parliamentary debates on agriculture. Government speakers, including agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief, said the government recognizes the problem of drought and low prices and will keep monitoring.
However, there already are programs that can send billions of federal-provincial dollars to farmers this year.
“When we put all of this together, our estimate of the federal and provincial government program payments to farmers this year for crop insurance will be at least $4 billion,” said Vanclief. “We anticipate farmers will draw from NISA, which is not the only eligible program, the Canadian Farm Income Program and other programs. These are moneys they will not have to pay back.”
In fact, the $4 billion estimate is for all program payments. The department says crop insurance could pay out up to $1.4 billion.
Meanwhile, opposition critics lambasted the government for what they called neglect and mismanagement.
Manitoba Conservative Rick Borotsik said even though farm disasters are not Vanclief’s fault, his absence may be part of the solution.
“It seems that ever since he has held the position of agriculture minister, everything with agriculture that could go wrong seems to have gone wrong,” he said. “I am not suggesting there be a change, but that is perhaps one way of trying to get agriculture back on the rails.”
Manitoba New Democrat Bev Desjarlais went further. Vanclief, she said, should be replaced.
“I hate to say this but quite frankly, we can only send the same fighter in so many times,” she said, referring to cabinet meetings where aid packages are decided. “When he does not do the job, we have to give him the hook.”
Opposition MPs said government must offer more farm support.
British Columbia Alliance MP Gurmant Grewal recounted how he earned an agricultural degree in his native India, where government and universities co-operated to create a green revolution.
“From the agricultural perspective here in Canada, when I compare it with my experience of agriculture in India, I believe that the government approach in Canada is one of neglect,” he said.
