OTTAWA – Reform party leader Preston Manning has appointed a new team of agriculture critics whom he hopes will be able to give Ralph Goodale a better run for his money and raise the profile of Reform among prairie farmers.
Saskatchewan MP Elwin Hermanson becomes the party’s chief agriculture spokesperson, supported by deputies from the three prairie provinces – Manitoba’s Jake Hoeppner and Saskatchewan’s Allan Kerpan and Garry Breitkreuz.
Alberta’s Leon Benoit (Vegreville), a controversial MP with a reputation for uncompromising talk and action, has been taken off agriculture and appointed caucus deputy trade spokesperson.
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“I think there is a whole generation of young small ‘r’ reform-minded farmers out there that I think Elwin will be able to tap into,” Manning said. “There are a lot of things going on out there and I think Elwin is the best person to lead our response.”
As Reform House Leader in the Commons for the past year and a half, Hermanson has not had much of a public profile but he has gained a Parliament Hill reputation as an astute politician and organizer.
Manning said it is time the freshman MP and farmer made more of a public splash.
“He will be put up against Goodale in the House, he will get more time in Question Period and he will be a good advocate of our positions,” Manning said.
He does not consider Benoit’s move a demotion, he said. The Vegreville MP will work with Peace River MP Charlie Penson on trade issues and likely will concentrate on agricultural trade.
Manning said Benoit is one of the strongest caucus advocates of agricultural free trade, deregulation and market forces while Hermanson is more of a “generalist,” able to bring people with conflicting views together.
That was not one of Benoit’s apparent skills. As the chief agriculture spokesperson, he was blunt and outspoken in his criticism of government subsidies, the Canadian Wheat Board, supply management and anything else he deemed an obstruction to the natural working of the market.
Those views sometimes put him at odds with fellow Reform MPs who advocated a more moderate approach.
It also put him at odds with other members of the agriculture committee, creating an unusual level of tension on what often has been a relatively non-partisan forum.
Benoit sometimes was hostile to farm groups that did not bring to Parliament Hill views he supported. He often would suggest they were merely “special interest groups” who did not represent “real farm opinion.”
He advocated farmer plebiscites and focus groups rather than relying on the views of farm group leaders.
These attitudes won him few farm lobby friends.
“From a farm organization point of view, we found his views somewhat rigid,” said Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Jack Wilkinson. “I think it should be the role of opposition MPs and farm organizations to build coalitions to keep the government accountable. I do not think that was his style.”
