Manitoba’s new agriculture minister will confront a unique test that no other agriculture minister on the Prairies has ever had to face.
It’s the challenge of proving a woman can do the job.
Premier Gary Doer and his cabinet were to be sworn in Oct. 5, after The Western Producer’s deadline. Rosann Wowchuk was widely expected to take command of the agriculture portfolio. It is believed she is the first female agriculture minister on the Prairies. (Alberta’s Shirley McClellan was an associate ag minister in the 1980s.)
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Wowchuk’s appointment pleases longtime farm leader Nettie Wiebe, but it doesn’t surprise her.
“It’s a deeply patriarchal industry,” said Wiebe.
“What you see in the ag portfolio is, in a way, reflective of what you see in the industry elsewhere.”
When the West was settled, homesteads were granted to men. They owned the land and traditionally made decisions about it.
“The pattern is deeply imprinted about who owns the resource,” said Wiebe.
But times have changed. Today, many farms are equal partnerships between men and women. And farm policy decisions affect both sexes.
Based on her experience negotiating farm policy, Wiebe said Wowchuk will often find herself the only woman in a room full of agricultural decision makers.
“She’ll have to establish more firmly probably than her male counterparts her credibility, capacity and capabilities,” said Wiebe.
And she will be a “signpost” for other women interested in agricultural leadership, said Wiebe.
Political scientist Meir Serfaty said the appointment is a sign of the growing role women are playing in provincial politics in Canada, especially in left-of-centre parties.
While many prairie women have held provincial cabinet positions in health, education and social services, agriculture has remained a male domain.
“Farmers’ concerns have traditionally been men’s concerns,” said Serfaty, of Brandon University.
“Rightly or wrongly, women have been important forces, but more in the background.”
But Wowchuk knows more about agriculture than many people give her credit for, said Serfaty. She farms at Cowan, Man., and was the NDP agriculture critic in opposition.
“She’s more of an NFU (National Farmers Union) type-of-farmer, but a farmer is a farmer,” Serfaty said.
Former NDP agriculture minister Bill Uruski said he thinks Wowchuk’s appointment will highlight the role women play on farms today.
“I think that issue has been historically underplayed by us male folk.”
Because of her political and farming history, Wowchuk will face a less steep learning curve than many new cabinet ministers, said political scientist Paul Thomas.
He said Wowchuk’s attitude and self-confidence will help determine her success as agriculture minister. But if she makes errors early on, the more experienced (and male) rural Tory opposition will likely be quick to jump on them, said Thomas.
As agriculture minister, Wowchuk will face some tough issues right away, including handling the farm income crisis and negotiating a new national safety net package with other agriculture ministers this winter.
Wowchuk will also be faced with a small rural caucus. She holds one of four rural NDP seats. The other 28 members of the government come from Winnipeg, Brandon or northern Manitoba.
Uruski was in the same situation when he was agriculture minister in the 1980s. He said it won’t be an issue.
“I never found a problem of convincing my colleagues if the cause was there.”
But Uruski said it will also be impossible for Wowchuk to meet all the expectations of farmers. Some people will have to be disappointed, he said.
“There is so much pent-up frustration,” he said. “As you know, farmers are very individualistic.”
Manitoba farm leaders have expressed relief that Wowchuk will play a key role in the new, mostly urban, NDP government.
“One of my worst fears was an NDP government and Rosann not there,” said Don Dewar, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
