Doug Chorney, president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers, is taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to Canada’s new Conservative majority government.
Chorney hopes that prime minister Harper and the Conservative party will work with farmers and producer groups to develop Canada’s agriculture policy, but he’s not sure how the Tories will use their newfound power.
“The platform of the Conservatives has always been supportive of agriculture, (but) they have their ideological perspective that they’ve brought to the table,” said Chorney, who farms near East Selkirk, Man.
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“I think we’re going to see the Conservatives impose the changes they’ve lobbied for and pushed for over the past five years.”
As an example, many Tory MPs on the Prairies have lobbied to end the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board, Chorney said, and he expects them to act on that promise.
“They outlined in their platform that they would have barley marketing choice if they had a majority government, and we’ll expect to see that shortly.”
Mike Bast, Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association director in Manitoba, said that kind of approach isn’t acceptable. He wants the government to act quickly and efficiently to end the board’s single desk.
“We don’t see doing it piecemeal, you just do the whole thing at once. You make it voluntary,” said Bast, who farms near La Salle, Man.
However, Merv Tweed, Conservative MP for Brandon-Souris, doesn’t anticipate immediate action on the file.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a priority. We’ve got a lot of other issues that we’re going to bring forward first.”
Marketing choice is issue number one for the wheat growers association, but Bast listed several other ag policy priorities.
He said he hopes the Conservatives re-invest in Canada’s biotech industry by boosting funding for crop genetics and other research.
As well, Bast would like the government to pursue rail-costing reviews. Chorney also wants the Conservatives to act on proposed legislation it set out before the election, which would require service agreements between railways and shippers.
“We would like to see them implement that policy…. and support for short-line railways across Canada.”
Looking beyond individual ag policy issues, Chorney is curious to see how a Conservative majority government will operate.
Will they develop ag policy in collaboration with ag leaders? Or use their majority to push an ideological agenda?
“They always say a measure of character is how one operates when they have absolute authority. They can be gracious leaders, or are you going to choose to not be gracious.”
