AGRICULTURE minister Lyle Vanclief had to be happy when he got his first look at the Dec. 10 federal budget speech.
Agriculture was not ignored in a speech focused on security and economic trouble. It was praised and promised money and respect.
In a budget crammed with new security spending and fixated on how to keep the economy from sliding deeper into downturn or recession, finance minister Paul Martin still managed to give farmers their due.
He even gave them pride of place as not only a key part of the present economy but also a part of the future.
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“There are few in our economy who have embraced innovation with more energy than those in the agricultural community,” Martin told the House of Commons. But they have been suffering in recent years, “particularly those dependent upon grains and oilseeds.”
So, in his first real budget in almost two years, the minister of finance promised the federal government will be there with its fair “share” of long-term, predictable farm program financing.
Granted, all that is vague. There is little that farmers can take to the bank as collateral. In the days ahead, opposition critics will remind us again and again about the lack of detail.
But in the context of most federal budgets, Martin’s nod to agriculture was high praise indeed. Most budgets in the past 20 years have made little more than passing reference to the sector and rarely has it been identified as part of the innovation economy.
Yet he promised money when needed and made reference to the work under way to create a new national policy.
He recognized, but did not dwell on, the income hit that grains and oilseeds farmers have faced in recent years. He identified the sector with the future, not the past.
And he recognized that agriculture, while sideswiped by economic forces beyond its control, has its eye clearly on a future in which Canada will be “a world leader in food safety, innovation and environmentally responsible agricultural production.”
It is a certainty, if Martin runs as expected for the Liberal leadership someday, that this budget will be trotted out as he canvasses for rural and farmer support.
He has been quietly assuring rural Liberal MPs that if elected, he will consider agriculture one of his top priorities.
Of course, Martin will not be alone in portraying himself as the farmers’ friend among Liberal leadership contenders.
Industry minister Brian Tobin has been promoting a billion-dollar scheme to hook up rural Canada to fast internet service as a way to help rural Canadians connect themselves to the evolving economy. Martin used this budget to delay Tobin’s scheme, suggesting the promoters of the broadband strategy had not yet completed their homework. Ouch.
And health minister Allan Rock continues to work on his rural contacts, although his history with gun control and pesticide registration makes his rural campaign more challenging.
Liberal leadership aspirations aside, Martin committed the government to a supportive, sympathetic and optimistic view of agriculture.
The next challenge will be making sure there is money to bring those words to life.
