When New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton had his first face-to-face meeting with prime minister Paul Martin Aug. 23 to discuss how the minority Parliament might work, he made sure farm aid was on the agenda.
“I certainly raised it, particularly in the context of BSE,” Layton said in an Aug. 30 interview. “We need a government response now. Farmers are desperate.”
There were no prime ministerial commitments but the NDP leader, who controls a critical 19-member caucus of MPs, said he gave notice that if the government wants NDP co-operation, agriculture should be part of the program.
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“We have 19 seats, one shy of being able to say to the government ‘if you don’t do what we like, that’s it for you,’ ” said Layton. “Besides, I don’t think Canadians right now would want that to happen too quickly. On the other hand, the government needs to be reminded they are a minority government and one of the issues that must be addressed is agriculture.”
The Liberals fell 20 seats short of a majority, making the Parliament that opens Oct. 4 the first minority one in a quarter century.
The NDP leader said the fact that the party failed to elect MPs in prairie farm constituencies does not mean the NDP will ignore the issue and concentrate on urban concerns where the party is strong.
“We don’t abandon people because they don’t necessarily end up with an NDPer representing them.”
Layton said New Democrat MPs will press the Liberals not to sign a World Trade Organization deal that weakens the Canadian Wheat Board or supply management.
“We believe in collective marketing. We believe in working together and in a globalized world, collective marketing for strength is all the more important.”
Layton said the NDP also will insist that any BSE aid package is designed to get money into the hands of producers and feedlot operators rather than packing companies.
He said the same judgment will apply to any plan for help in building more domestic packing capacity.
“We’ve got to have more capacity to process the product that used to be processed in the United States, and we believe it should be done in the context of a co-operative, not just giving grants or interest-free loans to the multinationals who walked away with a considerable chunk of the last BSE bailout,” he said.
“We must ensure we have something owned and operated in Canada for the benefit of Canadian agriculture.”
