ANNOUNCEMENT of the federal commitment to a new long-term farm policy
is imminent. The telltale signs have been growing in recent weeks.
Consider the evidence.
In early June, the word went out inside Agriculture Canada that deputy
minister Samy Watson was lining up his ducks for the big announcement.
“The deputy minister has asked that we prepare a list of those
organizations (producer associations, processors, etc.) who are known
to be very supportive of the Agricultural Policy Framework,” a senior
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communications official wrote in a June 3 e-mail to departmental
colleagues.
“They are looking for us to identify key supportive third parties who
would come out in support of the APF if contacted by media, other
groups, the public etc. in the event of any announcements/media
interest regarding APF.”
Ah yes, the search for the neutral third party willing to tell the
skeptical world you indeed have invented a better wheel.
In the meantime, there are other Ottawa signs that some agriculture
package is in the works, a pattern from past announcements.
First, agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief becomes more specific,
offering increasingly strong promises that the government understands
and is working on it. Expect action “soon.”
Then, Agriculture Canada bureaucrats begin to show up at parliamentary
hearings with raccoon eyes, looking like they haven’t had a good
night’s sleep in three weeks.
Then, the prime minister gets involved. Liberal MPs begin whispering
they have had private meetings with Jean Chrétien and he understands
the problem.
He begins to show an interest, maybe by unexpectedly agreeing in May to
see a delegation from the Farmer Rail Car Coalition in his office.
On May 22, after weekly caucus, he surprised New Democrat Dick Proctor
by answering a House of Commons question about the impact on farmers of
the farm bill. Unusual.
Chrétien said nothing new but he sent out the signal he is engaged.
By June 6, his public relations spinners were telling The National Post
that long-term farm policy planning was a prime ministerial initiative.
Luckily for the PMO, the Post had not been covering the long struggles
of Vanclief to convince the government this is important. But the signs
are there that a package is in the works, perhaps as early as this week
or next.
And that leaves deputy minister Watson with a bit of a problem. Who
will praise it, other than the government?
In response to his internal plea for the names of “neutral” sector
allies, he received the following internal response:
“In consultation with the assistant directors and depending on how one
interprets ‘very supportive’, it is our opinion that it would appear
that there is some ‘conditional’ support in the dairy and poultry
sectors but we do not have the confidence to recommend that these
sectors be approached by the media. It is clear that some elements of
the APF have received approval but that the sectors feel that there are
crucial elements that are not adequately covered.”
In other words, hold the applause until everyone is introduced.
