Party policy | Supply management tops ag agenda at convention
MONTREAL — New Democratic Party delegates pledged renewed support for supply management in their only approved agricultural resolution at the party’s biennial convention.
Delegates also called on the Conservative government to reverse its decision to withdraw from a United Nations convention on drought prevention.
That was the extent of public debate about agricultural, prairie or rural issues on the floor of the April 12-14 NDP convention, which was heavy on speeches and leader appearances and light on policy debate.
“There is concern about rural issues, obviously, among many of the delegates here,” Pat Martin, one of just three prairie party MPs, said in an interview.
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“But there is a limited time for policy discussion and I guess the priority resolutions reflect where the votes are.”
There were several agriculture and rural resolutions proposed by riding associations that did not make the cut to be debated.
Getting the supply management resolution on the floor and approved was a priority for agriculture critic Malcolm Allen. It was one of six brought forward in the limited time available for economic policy debate.
The resolution was an attempt to correct a gaffe in the 2011 NDP election campaign platform, which omitted a commitment to support supply management despite the party’s long-term support.
Dairy Farmers of Canada pointed out that the NDP was the only party not to mention supply management in its platform, Allen said.
At first he told them they were wrong, Allen told the convention. Then he discovered they were correct.
“It was an oversight,” Allen told the convention. “We can’t afford an oversight like that.”
He said planned new trade talks and a steady attack from domestic critics means it’s important for the party to show its continued support. He called for a unanimous vote.
“At this moment in the media, the system is under attack,” said Allen. “We New Democrats need to push back.”
He did not quite receive the unanimity he requested.
Almost all of the 2,100 delegates supported the resolution, but a few voted no and a handful signalled that they had abstained.
The emergency resolution to demand that Canada rejoin the UN convention on drought prevention and desertification came after leader Thomas Mulcair used a session at the convention to illustrate the recent Canadian decision to withdraw as an example of the Conservative government’s “withdrawal” from the world.
“We became the only country in the world to withdraw from a UN convention against drought,” he said to boos from the crowd.
Delegates from across the country had submitted many agricultural resolutions that did not make the cut.
There was a proposal from southwestern Ontario to establish an expert committee led by farm organizations to study how to streamline and harmonize federal, provincial and municipal farm rules across the country.
Winnipeg Centre proposed a resolution that funding for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency be increased to make sure “the health and safety of Canadians (is put) before corporate profits.”
Quebec members proposed that traceability in the food system be mandatory and that labelling for genetically modified food be mandatory.
London-area New Democrats called for “abolition of livestock factory farms, promoting diversification, ensuring long-term income for farmers, protecting small producers and ensuring fair prices for Canadian products internationally.”
