After two years as the first female chief bureaucrat in the 141-year history of Agriculture Canada, Yaprak Baltacioglu is moving on.
Next week, she will become deputy minister of the sprawling department of transport, infrastructure and communities, responsible for much of the multi-billion-dollar anti-recession stimulus package the government has unveiled.
Her successor, effective July 1, will be John Knubley, current deputy minister for intergovernmental affairs in the Privy Council Office, which oversees the entire public service. He has had a 29-year career in the public service but no previous direct connection to agriculture.
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Baltacioglu, 49, will still find herself involved with some agriculture-related issues in her new job.
The railway service review process will fall under her jurisdiction and she will also be hearing some industry calls for a costing review.
And she will be reviewing Canadian railway industry pleas that Ottawa spend some of its infrastructure stimulus dollars on short-line improvements.
News of her shuffle, announced June 17 by prime minister Stephen Harper, was greeted with dismay by some in the Ottawa-based agricultural lobby industry. Within Ottawa’s bureaucratic circles, it is considered a considerable promotion.
Agriculture industry representatives gave her work as deputy minister favourable reviews.
“We are absolutely sorry to see her go,” Canadian Federation of Agriculture executive director Brigid Rivoire said. “She has been terrific. She came in with a good understanding of the department and the issues and she has always made herself available to the industry whenever we needed to see her. We didn’t always agree with her but she gave us a hearing and respect.”
At Grain Growers of Canada, executive director Richard Phillips said Baltacioglu will be missed.
“She had a very good grasp on the various files that she had to deal with and that we wanted to talk about and she was very accessible,” he said. “She was always willing to work with us to try to find answers. Our experience with her was very, very positive.”
Both Rivoire and Phillips said they knew nothing about the incoming deputy agriculture minister, who will make his public debut when federal and provincial agriculture ministers meet July 8-10 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
And both saw a thin veil of silver lining in the senior bureaucrats’ shuffle. Baltacioglu’s presence as head of the sometimes farmer-hostile transport department will at least give them a fair hearing from someone who understands that transportation policy affects farmers.
“We are working with SARM (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities) on a proposal to amend the Canadian Transport Act to give rail sidings the same protection from abandonment as branch lines have under the law,” Phillips said. “It will be good to have someone there who actually understands the implications for farmers.”
Rivoire said CFA also has regular transportation policy issues.
“It will be helpful to have someone who understands the issues there.”
