VARNA, Ont. – It was a politician’s version of a Kodak moment.
As agriculture minister Ralph Goodale sat before a crowd of Ontario farmers, waiting for the next demand that he justify this policy or that decision, a chicken producer came forward.
“We don’t really have any complaints,” said John Maaskant, a director of the Ontario Chicken Producers’ Marketing Board.
“We want to thank you for supporting our industry through the trade challenge. We want you to realize we know about your efforts and we are happy you support us.”
Read Also
Storm dynamics and extreme rainfall
Besides moisture, instability and orographic lift, the next biggest factor that contributes to heavy or extreme rainfall is storm dynamics.
Goodale could do little but smile his thanks. Moments before, he had been criticized over imports of subsidized European beef and questioned about whether he will support the Canadian Wheat Board.
It was that kind of week for the agriculture minister as he stormed through seven southwestern Ontario rural ridings in a two-day political blitz.
It is a crucial area for the Liberals and their agricultural record, a rich and productive region in a province that represents one quarter of Canada’s agricultural output.
In 1993, they won all of Ontario’s 40 or more constituencies in which the rural vote is important.
The next time, those seats will be hotly contested by Reformers and Progressive Conservatives who accuse rural Ontario MPs of being silent when it comes to defending the province’s farmers.
Ontario’s main farm lobby groups have contributed to that feeling by loudly complaining about what they see as Goodale’s western bias.
“Southern Ontario is crucial for the Liberal government and we expect to see a lot more of you down here,” Elgin-Norfolk MP Gar Knutson told Goodale at one campaign stop.
He did hear some complaints about Ottawa’s treatment of Ontario farmers and the federal government’s decision to allow some subsidized European beef into Canada.
But overall, crowds were friendly.
There was evident relief that Canada is on the verge of winning a battle with the United States over protective supply management quotas.
There was genuine appreciation of the Liberals’ unwavering support of Ontario’s orderly marketing system.
For Goodale, that was a double-edged sword.
Many pro-marketing board farmers pressed him on how strongly he will support the Canadian Wheat Board. They worried a decision to weaken the wheat board would be a precedent for weakening their own marketing agencies.
