A veteran Liberal member of Parliament from rural Ontario complained last week that his own government does not pay enough attention to rural issues.
Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief immediately dismissed the complaint as wrong-headed, noting increased agriculture and rural spending and creation last year of the first-ever junior cabinet position for rural issues.
“If anybody makes that statement, I take exception to it,” he said in an interview.
“I think it is exactly the opposite.”
Jerry Pickard, who represents the large agricultural riding of Kent-Essex, stuck by his guns. He is chair of the 25-member southwestern Ontario Liberal caucus and spent two years as parliamentary secretary to the agriculture minister.
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He said in an interview there are few rural voices in cabinet or in the prime minister’s office where policy is set.
“It makes it more difficult for rural Canada to get its voice heard where decisions are made and to have policies that reflect rural needs,” he said Sept. 7.
Pickard also complained that too few rural MPs are appointed chairs of House of Commons committees. He noted that Winnipeg MP and former CBC journalist John Harvard is chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee, but represents no farmers.
“It doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense to me.”
Vanclief said if rural MPs like Pickard have points to make, they have many places to make them, including caucus committees, full caucus, House committees and the House of Commons.
“I think we are very sensitive to the rural voice,” Vanclief said.
Tricky timing
The internal Liberal spat comes at a sensitive time for the Liberal government as it gears up for a raucous pre-election Commons session and prepares to campaign to try to win a third successive government.
Its present slim majority is based in part on the fact that the Liberals won every rural Ontario seat in 1997, as well as rural seats in Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
