OTTAWA — What a difference 30 months made in the dynamic of the national agricultural issues debate organized by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture April 11.
During the 2008 campaign, the debate fell in the midst of a crisis for agriculture minister Gerry Ritz.
The country was in the grips of the listeria scare that saw more than 20 consumers die from tainted meat from a Maple Leaf plant and many hundreds more get sick.
As the government point man to handle the crisis, Ritz chaired daily meetings (many participants were on the telephone) for updates on the toll and the response.
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In the midst of the campaign, someone on the confidential conference calls leaked news that several weeks before, Ritz had made several jokes that some took to be in bad taste — the unfolding crisis was like “death by a thousand cuts, or should I say cold cuts” and when a case was reported in Prince Edward Island, “please let it be (Liberal critic) Wayne Easter.”
The media story blew up and Ritz essentially went underground, avoiding media and public comment as the controversy swirled, the election campaign dragged on and his conduct became a front page issue.
The CFA debate was one of his few public outings in 2008 and he was tense looking, presumably waiting for another shoe to fall.
None of his opponents confronted him directly on the comments and when the debate ended, he slipped out a back door to avoid media.
At this year’s debate, Ritz was more confident and relaxed. His reviews from many farm groups have been good and no controversy is dogging him.
Yet oddly, at times this year’s debate took on a much more personal tone than the last one, largely because of New Democrat Pat Martin.
He is a long-time Winnipeg MP and party Canadian Wheat Board critic who has one of the most acidic tongues in a House of Commons noted for its attack dogs.
In his opening remarks, Martin lamented the decline of agriculture as a national priority and blamed a series of weak ministers, a group in which he firmly placed Ritz. They were so pleased to get the cabinet salary and the government car and driver that they didn’t ruffle feathers to defend industry interests.
Debate moderator Hugh Maynard finally urged him to stick to the issues and not personal attacks. “That wasn’t in the rules I was given,” Martin snapped back.
Throughout the debate, he ascribed problems in the industry to Ritz’s weak leadership.
Later, Easter joined in briefly.
During a debate on food safety issues, he said the government is cutting funding.
“In the last debate, you had to run out the back door because of a food safety issue you were facing,” he said.
Ritz reacted to none of the jibes, sticking to his message of good times and stable government.
It is a strategy party insiders have been telling prime minister Stephen Harper to follow during the campaign — don’t get angry, don’t respond to personal attacks with personal attacks and stick to the message.
It seemed to work for Ritz April 11.
