The thousands of farmers who gathered on Parliament Hill April 5 for the largest protest rally of the year were in no mood to listen to politicians who couldn’t produce ready cash.
At least their leaders weren’t, and agriculture minister Chuck Strahl wonders if the militant demands of farm leaders really reflects the thinking of average farmers.
Rally speakers demanded government money immediately and condemned the recently elected Conservative government for turning its back on farmers.
Strahl said April 10 that he thinks most farmers are more realistic about what governments can do and how quickly.
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“I think the problem, frankly, is often the difference between the grassroots farmers that you meet with and talk with and discuss solutions with, and some of the more vitriolic leaders that get to the microphone,” said the minister. “They are determined to be as negative as they can be about everything in sight and this is with a government that has been in power for eight weeks.”
He said most farmers he meets understand that it takes time to get programs designed and money approved and sent out
“I realize that I don’t have all the answers in eight weeks but farmers, as opposed to some of the farm leaders, understand that.”
It was not a message he got to deliver to the farmers rallying on Parliament Hill, even if he had wanted to deliver it.
Strahl asked to be allowed to speak to the gathering of between 7,000 and 10,000 and was asked if he had anything concrete to announce.
No, said the minister.
Permission denied.
“We told him that unless he had something real and immediate to announce, he had better just listen,” Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen said.
The same rule applied to all the politicians.
More than a dozen MPs were at the rally but were not given the podium. NDP leader Jack Layton showed up near the end and stood holding an apple while a few farmers shook his hand.
A number of Conservative MPs stood uncomfortably on the parliamentary steps while speaker after speaker denounced the new Conservative government for lack of action and broken promises.
Several speakers noted that the Conservatives won most rural seats.
“We put you in government and now we are asking for your help,” said one Ontario soybean producer.
Manitoba farm leader David Rolfe, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, told the crowd that farmers across the country are united: “We’re looking for a commitment from government that they are going to stand behind farmers.”
Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Ken McBride said farmers across the country “all bleed the same colour. We need to be paid fairly for what we produce.”
National Farmers Union president Stewart Wells said the organization “is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers across the country.” He said corporate power in the marketplace is a key cause of the crisis.
Bill Dobson, president of Alberta’s Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, noted that his province returned nothing but Conservatives to Ottawa and those Conservatives have complained that Liberals in power for 12 years did nothing for farmers.
“Now is your chance,” he told the MPs. “I’m going broke. There’s lots of money in Alberta but farmers don’t have it.”
