ONCE upon a time, getting the nod to be national agriculture minister must have seemed like a grasp at the brass ring.
Liberal Lyle Vanclief saw it as the epitome of his political career when he was appointed in 1997. Conservative Alvin Hamilton considered it the podium for some of the most important reforms made by John Diefenbaker’s Conservative government after he was appointed in 1960.
Former Saskatchewan premier Jimmy Gardiner thought it an important and interesting enough job that he kept it under his wing for almost 22 years, a Canadian record. Under Wilfrid Laurier, Quebec livestock and fruit grower Sydney Fisher kept the job for 15 years.
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Now, getting the nod to be Canada’s agriculture minister looks more like a poisoned chalice than a reward. Their electoral prospects quickly become dicey, the problems they face almost insoluble, the expectations they will be judged against impossible to meet.
In 2003, 15-year House of Commons veteran Bob Speller finally got the agriculture job he had coveted for years when Paul Martin became prime minister. Seven months later, Speller was defeated, his tenure one of the shortest and barely an asterisk in history.
Enter Andy Mitchell in 2004, an 11-year Commons veteran who became a giant killer in 1997 when he defeated Conservative star and retired general Lewis McKenzie in a traditional Conservative seat. He became Canada’s 30th agriculture minister in July 2004, immediately faced the worst farm economy in history, spent record amounts of taxpayer dollars and now has faced defeat.
Soon, he will join Speller as a former agriculture minister. On Jan. 23, he lost his Ontario seat by 21 votes and while there will be a recount, Mitchell’s cabinet career is over for the foreseeable future.
A new Conservative agriculture minister will be unveiled in the next few weeks. What awaits the new sacrificial lamb?
Well, election day produced the latest BSE case in Alberta. Keeping the world from freaking out and closing markets will be an early challenge.
In Geneva, agriculture is on the table late this week as negotiators amble toward the next deadline to be missed. The next minister will have to become engaged very quickly and the issues are far from simple.
In Ottawa, pressure and expectations will be high that the Conservatives will make good on their promises to scrap the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program and add more emergency aid while coping with a multi-billion dollar income deficit, will compensate farmers for trade injury, will try to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, will protect supply management from international trade challenges and will make farmers a priority in the new regime.
In a majority government, it would be a tall order. In a weak minority government, it will be all but impossible.
An added pressure will be that farmers across the country have been one of the most loyal Conservative constituencies with a legitimate claim for attention.
It is a recipe for intense pressure and the possibility for quick disillusionment.
The day the new minister is unveiled at Government House will be a stirring, emotional day for agriculture minister number 31. From then on, if recent history is a guide, the slope will be steadily downward.
