OTTAWA – As the clock ticks down before his announcement on the future of the Canadian Wheat Board, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale last week called for calm among the warring factions.
One of his opponents accused him of being responsible for prolonging the divisions that have wracked the farm community.
Manitoba Reform MP Jake Hoeppner said Goodale should resign.
“Western Canadians cannot and will not tolerate such arrogance and betrayal from an elected representative,” he wrote in an open letter issued in response to Goodale’s appeal. “It is, I believe, time for you to move out of office and let someone take over who will provide the leadership Canadians deserve.”
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Goodale complained that both sides have been using excessive and abusive language in the battle over the future of the board.
“This is no time for bluster or bombast, no time for rancor or breaches of law,” he said in an open letter sent to prairie producers through newspapers. “The issues are too serious. The consequences are too profound. This is a time for solid reasoning and careful judgment, respectability and respectfulness by and toward all concerned.”
Too much hype
In an interview, Goodale said he was concerned about excessive rhetoric and action by both sides.
Reaction to his letter, however, assumed he was attacking only the ‘Farmers for Justice’ side with their border-running and personal attacks on the minister.
His political opponents immediately mocked the minister as the author of the problem.
“He is the one who has been stirring up the anger,” said Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association president Larry Mag-uire, during a Sept. 13 lobby trip to Ottawa.
“He set up a panel and he has refused to act on its recommendations. Maybe the panel produced more reality about the marketplace than the minister wanted.”
The Reform party opposition produced several responses to Goodale.
Up in the air
Kindersley-Lloydminster MP and agriculture critic Elwin Hermanson accused Goodale of creating the problem through indecision.
“By not taking decisive action to reform the current board, you are encouraging opposition to rise against it, placing the board in jeopardy,” he wrote to Goodale in a letter also sent to farmers.
“Any further indecision and delay in the face of the overwhelming desire for change may seriously threaten the very existence of the board itself and that would be a shame.”
In an interview, Hermanson said he is fighting to save the wheat board by giving it some competition and by making it more accountable.
Manitoba Reform MP Jake Hoeppner was less temperate in his response to Goodale’s letter. He accused the minister of manipulating the law to his own advantage and then criticizing farmers for breaking the law.
He said it is time for Goodale to resign.
“Mr. Goodale, you have no right to point fingers at farmers who are merely trying to give you a wake-up call,” #wrote Hoeppner. “Farmers, on the other hand, have every right to feel betrayed by a minister who utilizes such blatant double standards.”
