The New Democratic Party will use the autumn session of Parliament to highlight problems in rural Canada and the agriculture sector, says party agriculture critic Alex Atamanenko.
“My plea to caucus was that we really focus on rural issues and conditions in agriculture,” he said from Thunder Bay, Ont., where the 29-member NDP caucus met Sept. 13-15 to discuss issues and tactics for the coming parliamentary battles.
“I argued that farmers need immediate help but we also must develop a long-term comprehensive strategy that will give the industry some confidence and stability.”
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Atamanenko, a first-term British Columbia MP, said he received support from other MPs: “I can confidently say this is one of the areas we will be pursuing and highlighting this fall.”
While the caucus does not have strong representation from farming areas and has no rural seats on the Prairies, “I think people understand that there is a whole segment of people in Canada, in rural Canada, who are facing tough times and need our support,” he said.
At the NDP policy convention in Quebec City two weeks ago, delegates approved a resolution calling for improved farm supports as well as preservation of supply management and retention of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly.
Farm policy
Atamanenko said he will lead a party effort to develop a comprehensive farm policy that offers stability, timely support and opportunity.
“I see the other parties as mainly offering piecemeal policies and what is needed is something comprehensive that covers all aspects of the industry and the need,” he said.
“I will work with people in the industry and other parties, for that matter, in trying to come up with the best policy possible.”
He said as he has talked to farmers across the country this summer, from B.C. fruit growers to representatives of Quebec’s Union des Producteurs Agricoles, he has heard calls for better, more responsive and predictable programming.
“I often hear the comment that in the United States, they have a farm bill that gets money to farmers when they need it,” he said. “We need something like that here.”
He noted the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has been working on the design of a Canadian farm bill.
“I want to work with them on that concept.”
