As federal finance minister, Paul Martin once denied a request for $1 billion in farm aid and then told farm leaders and Liberal MPs it was Jean Chrétien’s fault, Chrétien says in a political memoir published Oct. 15.
It was just one of several examples of how agricultural issues got caught up in the decade-long internal battle between Chrétien and Martin that ended in 2003 with Chrétien being forced out of office.
Martin, briefly prime minister and still an MP, did not immediately respond to the explosive claims in his rival’s book.
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The farm aid tale was the most startling agriculture reference, although Chrétien’s version doesn’t coincide with what happened publicly.
He may have been outlining the internal Liberal machinations that preceded a June 2002 announcement of $600 million in transitional funding for two years as part of a well-received five-year federal commitment.
Chrétien said it was $700 million and tied it to drought aid.
He may also have been referring to a disastrous $500 million announcement by former agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief in 2001 when farmers expected much more and blamed the Chrétien government for the shortfall.
In his memoir My Years as Prime Minister, Chrétien writes that Vanclief asked cabinet for $1 billion in farm aid but “Martin as finance minister offered less than $500 million.”
Chrétien said he imposed a compromise of $700 million.
“Martin rushed to the caucus and the farmers to claim that the reduction was my decision, not his, because he had been in favour of the billion dollars all along,” said the former prime minister. “It was irresponsible behaviour on his part and it made the government increasingly difficult to manage.”
Around the same time, the tobacco politics of southwestern Ontario played its role and MP Bob Speller became part of the Martin camp.
When Speller and another MP from the tobacco belt lobbied for aid to the industry, Martin told them aid was being blocked by Chrétien, the book claims.
“When they didn’t get an enthusiastic reception from the minister of agriculture, they went to see the minister of finance,” Chrétien wrote. “Since he wanted to secure their votes in the leadership race, he told them yes, he had the money, yes, they should get it, yes, he wanted to give it to them but it was being blocked by the prime minister.”
The two, including Speller, complained to Chrétien. He told them it was not about the money but about the fact that the health department was conducting a campaign against smoking so it would be unseemly to increase support to the growers. Besides, many “less controversial” farm sectors were looking for help.
“Needless to say, these two MPs became ardent fans of Paul Martin and probably imagined themselves as future cabinet ministers though their ultimate reward was to lose their seats in the next election,” he wrote.
Speller did become Martin’s finance minister, got more than $60 million in tobacco aid from the Martin government and then lost the seat he had held for 16 years.
