Preston Manning – urban politician, systems analyst, management consultant and prime minister-in-waiting – recently became Preston Manning, farmer, if only for 10 minutes.
When the Reform leader rose to lead his party in the Canadian Wheat Board debate, he waxed nostalgic about his grandfather’s Saskatchewan grain farm and his father’s Alberta dairy farm.
He identified himself as the only federal political leader with a farm background.
And he bemoaned agriculture’s declining priority in Parliament.
“I hope that when bills like this are brought before us and when agriculture questions are asked in the House, members from urban ridings, like me, will not simply turn glassy-eyed and ignore what is being said,” Manning told the House. “I trust that we will continue to give agriculture and members from predominantly rural communities the attention that their traditions, industries and concerns deserve in this country.”
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Later, several Reform speakers used that logic to argue urban MPs should take their lead on the wheat board from Reformers elected by prairie farmers.
In that case, they would vote against the bill as too timid.
In an interview after his speech, Manning said part of the Reform mission in this Parliament is to alert the rest of Canada to the fact that prairie farmers vote Reform because they want change.
“There is a great demand for change out there and the government is not keeping up with it,” said the Calgary MP. “We’ve got the members with the background to explore that and it isn’t just in the wheat board area that change is demanded. This bill is a good platform from which to make that argument and to carry it into other sectors as well.”
He said he was the first party leader in many years to lead off an agricultural debate for his party in the House because he wanted to give the issue profile.
“There are a great number of people in primary production and a great many people who depend on it,” he said. “I think their issues should have a higher profile in Parliament and that’s what we’re doing.”
