The first meeting of the House of Commons in the new Parliament was less than an hour old when Conservative MP Rick Casson from Lethbridge was on his feet to complain about the government’s neglect of agriculture.
His target was the throne speech and the immediate recipient of his complaint was rookie Liberal MP Franoise Boivin from Quebec, who had been chosen to second the speech and praise the government.
“The member mentioned her family and people in her constituency but people in my constituency are losing their livelihood,” said Casson, who represents the heartland of the BSE-ravaged feedlot industry and is one of the less partisan MPs in the House.
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“Some are even threatening to take their own lives because of the desperation the agricultural community is facing.”
Casson’s complaint was that the government paid almost no attention to agriculture in the throne speech.
There was one direct mention – “the government will do its part to enable the success of important sectors including automotive, aerospace and other manufacturing, as well as agriculture and other resource-based industries” – and one indirect reference – “issues such as softwood lumber and BSE underline the importance the government attaches to obtaining more reliable access to U.S. markets.”
The Alberta MP demanded that Boivin justify the lack of agricultural attention.
“I would like to remind her of some of the things that have taken place in this country in the last number of years, one being that the agricultural community in this country from coast to coast has gone through years of drought and has been left absolutely devastated,” he said.
“Producers have suffered through years of low commodity prices, the family farm is being eroded and is disappearing. Now we are mired in the worst crisis, arguably, that agriculture in this country has ever faced, the BSE crisis.”
He was not the only opposition MP to complain about the government’s silence on agriculture.
“There is nothing about agriculture, including supply management, which is such an important issue for Quebec,” Bloc Québecois MP Louis Plamondon said.
And Nova Scotia New Democrat Peter Stoffer noted that Toronto Liberal Mario Silva, the rookie MP who moved the throne speech, had replaced environmentalist Charles Caccia, a strong advocate of mandatory labelling on food containing genetically modified ingredients.
Stoffer wanted to know if Silva would follow Caccia’s legacy and press his own government to move from voluntary to mandatory labelling.
Silva did not respond directly, other than to say he shares many of Caccia’s concerns.
But he was clearly surprised by the critical comments on a day normally devoted to more congratulatory and gentle politics.
“I guess there is no honeymoon for me today,” he said.
