Prince Edward Island farmer and former National Farmers Union president Wayne Easter sashayed back into Parliament for the fifth time Monday night with more than 50 percent of the vote in his Malpeque riding.
He will bemoan the loss of government but Easter may be one of the few re-elected Liberals who thrives in the new Parliament.
Although a loyal government backbencher and Liberal partisan for more than 12 years, briefly minister and lately parliamentary secretary who wrote a widely praised report on farmer empowerment, Easter often has seemed happiest bashing the bureaucracy and acting as a critic of his own government’s agriculture policies.
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He once described a key aide as being “hard-wired to be in opposition.” The same might be said for Easter, who can be expected to become one of the opposition Liberals’ most acerbic critics on rural and farm issues in the new Parliament.
Across the country, many well-known farm leaders and former farm leaders fared badly on Jan. 23. Former National Farmers Union president Nettie Wiebe lost in a Saskatoon riding as an NDP candidate, former NFU president Cory Ollikka was defeated as a Liberal candidate in northern Alberta, Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney lost badly as a Liberal in a Calgary riding and former Keystone Agricultural Producers president Don Dewar lost as a Liberal candidate in northern Manitoba.
Elsewhere, other prominent candidates were defeated.
In Edmonton, deputy prime minister Anne McLellan lost decisively. In British Columbia, 25-year House of Commons veteran New Democrat Svend Robinson lost a bid to return to the House after resigning in 2004 in the aftermath of a theft conviction.
In Manitoba’s Selkirk-Interlake riding, former MP, Manitoba premier and governor-general Ed Schreyer attempted a political comeback after almost 30 years but was defeated by Conservative James Bezan.
And in rural Ontario, the Conservatives continued a sweep they began in 2004 after 11 years of Liberal dominance.
Former Liberal agriculture minister Bob Speller lost by almost 7,500 votes to Conservative agriculture critic Diane Finley.
And the arc of rural ridings in Ontario around Toronto and the province’s major cities continued to swing Conservative.
Susan Whelan, a three-time MP, minister and daughter of former agriculture minister Eugene Whelan, lost decisively in a rural Windsor-area riding.
Throughout rural Ontario, Liberals lost. Lynn Myers, chair of the Liberal dairy caucus, lost in his Kitchener-area riding.
In New Brunswick, Liberal rural caucus chair Andy Savoie lost in a rural riding north of Fredericton as the Liberal share of rural seats shrank dramatically.
