The miserly federal response to Western Canada’s farm crisis is all about politics, says NDP agriculture critic Dick Proctor.
“(There are) not a lot of votes for them (the ruling federal Liberals) in areas where it seems to be hitting worst,” he said, adding, “I don’t even like saying this out loud.”
If the Grits have to provide extra support, they’re going to do it in areas where they can get a “return on investment” – and that is Ontario and Quebec, he said.
There are 101 Ontario Liberal MPs. The lone Liberal MP in Saskatchewan is Ralph Goodale, minister of natural resources and responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.
Read Also
European wheat production makes big recovery
EU crop prospects are vastly improved, which could mean fewer canola and durum imports from Canada.
He represents Wascana riding, which is heavily urban with a small rural component. It is demographically similar to Proctor’s Palliser riding.
Other than that, all other prairie cabinet ministers in prime minister Jean ChrŽtien’s government represent urban ridings.
Eight of Saskatchewan’s 14 MPs belong to the Reform party, with four NDP representatives (a fifth stepped down to run provincially.) There are six Liberal MPs in Manitoba, with one representing a rural riding. Liberals hold two of 26 ridings in Alberta, with the rest going to Reform.
Rick Borotsik, a Manitoba Progressive Conservative MP, said he wouldn’t go as far as Proctor.
It wasn’t partisan politics but a “lack of understanding” from the Liberal government that was the main issue, he said.
Proctor’s remarks came as the NDP governments of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were preparing to trek eastward to lobby the ChrŽtien government for more aid. Saskatchewan is seeking $1 billion dollars while Manitoba is after $300 million.
Dwain Lingenfelter, Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister, said if the steel or automotive industries were being battered by subsidies the way the export grain business is, “our federal government would be going wild over unfair competition. But they’ve been absolutely silent.”
Wheat producers in the European Union receive 56 cents of every dollar in income from their government. Producers get 38 cents in the United States, and nine cents in Canada.
The federal government made a decision to be “overly boy scoutish” in cutting its subsidies, assuming that the Europeans and Americans would follow suit. This was driven in part by the drive to eliminate the federal deficit.
Asked if this was a short or long-term crisis, Lingenfelter said, “this isn’t a one-year problem, and that’s what worries me.”
The crisis isn’t a result of a drought or flood, it’s a world grain trade war, the brunt of which is being borne by farmers here. Either that message
isn’t getting through to the feds, or they are choosing to ignore it, he said.
Vanclief couldn’t be reached for comment, but he has said he understands the nature of the crisis and has mused about offering retraining to farmers who feel it’s time to quit.
Reg Grenier, a spokesperson for the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program, said it was modeled after a similar program in Alberta and has sent money to producers who have suffered the largest margin drops.
This story is part of a special
feature coming to our website: The Farm Crisis for Non-Farmers. While it is designed to educate non-farmers, it will also be of interest to all Western Producer readers. Check it out at www.producer.com.
