Agriculture ministers invited the industry to dinner here last week, and kicked off a trade mission of a slightly different flavor.
Snapping in the wind outside the downtown hotel were both Canadian and American flags, reminders of the two-week trade skirmish prompting the meeting.
But Asian stir-fry served on a bed of vermicelli noodles was perhaps not the best choice of entrŽe for a crowd smarting from low prices partly caused by economic problems in the Pacific Rim.
Lyle Vanclief and Ralph Goodale wanted their aides and officials to hear about farm and trade troubles first-hand, before meeting with American officials in Montreal Oct. 8 and 9.
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They emerged from the dinner beaming, promising a tough stance on issues and brandishing what they said was a unified Team Canada position on Canada-U.S. trade matters.
“The degree of solidarity (between people at the dinner) is really quite remarkable,” said Goodale.
Even opposition politicians said they were impressed the Canadian government filed a complaint under trade agreements, forcing the U.S. government to rein in state leaders intent on slowing trade.
Reform party agriculture critic Howard Hilstrom said he has “a good feeling” about the upcoming bilateral talks.
“Canadian agriculture isn’t going to get sold out one way or the other,” he said.
While Manitoba agriculture minister Harry Enns said he was satisfied with the way the government managed the situation, he hoped the government would pursue its complaint under the trade agreements.
Enns said the complaint would settle the issues and prevent future actions. He said the trade slowdowns cost Manitoba hog farmers $16,000 a week.
Bilateral discussions are a reasonable price to pay to get trade moving, said Martin Rice, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council.
“I think the government got fairly clear and unequivocal support to go into these talks with the U.S. with the objective of having a thorough review of each others’ regulatory regimes, marketing systems and not to give anything away,” he said.
Rice noted people from the cereals sector seemed more reluctant about the discussions.
Don Dewar, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the group agreed the government can try to move some issues forward such as harmonizing pesticide and veterinary drug regulations.
But he added, “they got the message it’s not trade-off time. Everyone was saying we can’t trade off, we can’t renegotiate trade agreements.”
Fred Tait, of the National Farmers Union, said he’s worried Canada has already given in by suspending its trade complaint.
“It’s hard to take these people serious that they’re going to negotiate on our behalfs,” Tait said.
“To me, the thing the Americans want the most is a further weakening of the Canadian Wheat Board.”
Clif Foster said he hopes the government has an open discussion, and doesn’t maintain an attitude it has nothing to give up. Some U.S. concerns are valid, said Foster, manager of the Alberta Barley Commission.
“The American people and American farmers are not really hard people to deal with,” he said. But he added they will never accept the Canadian Wheat Board.
For Brian Kriz, president of the Alberta Barley Commission, the dinner tasted all too familiar, with each group doing “its typical posturing” and everyone hoping to “go slowly and carefully down the same path.
“It was a very Canadian meeting,” he said.
