At 25, Regina-Qu’Appelle Conservative Andrew Scheer is one of the youngest MPs in the new Parliament, but when it came to his first parliamentary intervention, he displayed the partisan skills of a veteran of the political wars.
In June, Scheer defeated 32-year MP Lorne Nystrom and helped shut the NDP out in Saskatchewan for the first time in almost 40 years.
Late into the night during an emergency BSE debate, the rookie MP rose to make his first point.
“Like any good rookie member of Parliament, I have read my (rule books) from cover to cover and I know that I am not supposed to point out the absence of members in the chamber, so I will not mention the complete lack of NDP members of Parliament in this debate,” said Scheer.
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“However, I think that their absence here has a direct correlation to their electoral results in the last election because they have ignored Saskatchewan.”
He was, of course, chastised by the chair, but the point had been made.
For Scheer and his legislative assistant Jerod Orb, there was some sweet irony in the election and that early NDP putdown.
In 1968 when he was first elected, Nystrom was the youngest MP to that time. The Conservative MP defeated by Nystrom, James Ormiston, was Orb’s grandfather.
“Politics is funny,” Scheer mused in an interview.
But like many rookie MPs, it was down to work quickly and, for the prairie rookies, that was mainly agriculture.
“It’s my focus and the major focus of my riding,” he said.
“I’m very disappointed with the government’s response to BSE. The throne speech showed no goals and no plans for agriculture.”
The same reaction came from James Bezan, a Manitoba cattle producer who replaces former Canadian Alliance agriculture critic Howard Hilstrom in Selkirk-Interlake.
“BSE and the problems in the industry are very important issues for me and my riding and the country and it’s disappointing the government doesn’t seem to understand that,” said the 39 year old.
Bezan’s entry into political life after years with the Manitoba Cattle Producers’ Association has forced him to shrink his own farm. He has cut his 120-head cow-calf herd in half after a year in which he was hit hard by BSE.
“I talked to Howard and he talked about the difficulties of trying to run a bigger operation when you’re away so much,” said the rookie MP.
Now, Bezan is concentrating on learning the rules of Parliament and how he can best make the case for the farm sector. As one of four Conservatives on the Commons agriculture committee, he will have a regular platform.
While many of the rookies were trying to find their way around Parliament Hill, Ted Menzies didn’t have that problem. As a farm lobbyist, he was a regular visitor to committees and ministers’ offices.
“The difference is I can get in easier,” he joked. “I don’t have to go through the metal detectors every time.”
As the Conservative critic on international development, Menzies will not be on the agriculture committee, but he expects agriculture to be a large part of his work as an MP.
“It is a large part of my riding and my interest.”
In his rookie speech about the government legislative plans outlined in the throne speech, Menzies got off one of the better rookie lines: “To be honest, the speech smelled like something I left behind at the farm in Claresholm.”
