The leaders of Canada’s five major political parties debated the election issues for two and a half hours last week without breathing a word about agriculture policy.
The closest they came was when Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest twice mentioned that part of his environmental policy is to merge Agriculture Canada into a super department of sustainable development with environment, fisheries and natural resources.
But there was no mention of agriculture or rural issues as the leaders debated jobs, health care, government choices and unity.
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Instead, it was a debate filled with accusations about broken Liberal promises, irresponsible opposition pledges of tax cuts and conflicting national unity strategies.
New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough opened the May 12 debate with a reminder of the NDP theme. In the last Parliament, an absence of New Democrats led to a distorted government that faced little opposition to cuts.
“It’s been a very lopsided debate,” she said.
McDonough said that just as the Liberals set a goal for deficit reduction, so it should set a goal to cut unemployment. “You can’t shrink yourself to prosperity.”
Prime minister Jean ChrŽtien faced the barbs of all the others, who accused him of cutting too much, damaging health care and failing to solve unemployment.
On the other side, Reform leader Preston Manning said ChrŽtien still believes in big government.
ChrŽtien bragged about Liberal deficit-cutting success and blamed the cuts on the deficit “mess” the Conservative government left behind, with Charest a part of it. He promised that when the books are balanced “soon”, the government will have more ability to cut taxes, enrich programs and cut the debt.
“The first dividend is to health care,” he said.
Manning insisted Reform offers a new vision for Canadians – faster deficit reduction, then tax cuts, MP recall and no special status for any province.
He said Quebec and the West already have expressed their discontent with the existing political arrangements by electing Reform and Bloc QuŽbecois MPs in 1993.
This time he pleaded with Ontario and the Maritimes to vote Reform to create change in the country. “Do you want more of the same or do you want a fresh start?” he asked, echoing the Reform theme.
Charest spent the evening condemning Liberal cuts, promoting the Progressive Conservatives as the national alternative to the Liberals and insisting the recent past of the PC party is irrelevant to the present debate.
He promoted an immediate tax cut, even before the deficit is eliminated. “This country can afford to cut taxes now.”
And he drew audience applause with a spirited national unity pitch that helped convince many newspaper columnists that Charest had “won” the debate.
The next morning, the Tory leader said he thought the debate was the start of a new campaign which will see Conservative gains and closer scrutiny of his promises.
“It is not a bad sign,” he told a May 13 news conference. “It means something. I’m flattered by it.”
Afterwards, critics noted that while Charest condemned the Liberals for cutting $7 billion from health and social program transfers to the provinces, in 1993 he said a re-elected Conservative government would cut $8 billion.
