In recent months, as charges and tough talk were flying from politicians in both Washington and Ottawa over food trade issues, one rookie Prairie MP was counselling caution.
John Solomon, a Regina New Democrat elected last October after a career in provincial politics, said Canadians should take some time to understand why the Americans are acting the way they are.
“We have to stand up to them but we have to understand their system as well,” he said after returning this spring from a trip to Washington’s Capitol Hill.
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“It’s extremely complex.”
After meeting with a number of American congressmen, Solomon said he concluded they mean their bark to be worse than their bite.
It is an election year for congressmen, who must appeal to their farmer voters. The congressmen must also respond to the demands of the powerful farm and food industry lobby groups that put up the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to run a congressional campaign.
“It is really a business that is called politics,” said Solomon.
It costs an average $400,000 to $600,000 to finance a campaign to elect a U.S. congressman for a two-year term.
In Saskatchewan, the average election campaign for a four- to five-year House of Commons term costs $60,000.
“Their system is hugely expensive and politicians must spend a lot of their time raising money and then paying attention to the demands of those who donate,” said Solomon.
“That’s how their system works. We have to understand that.
“They have to satisfy the ones who pay the bills.”
The MP said he was hearing a double message from American politicians.
“My sense is that the message is ‘don’t get too excited about our public posture, we have to get elected.'”
Unfortunately for Canadian farmers, the results of the pre-election bluster and politicking could be some permanent U.S. restrictions on Canadian exports.
Solomon said he recognizes that and he does not suggest Canada simply ignore the politics.
“We have to stand up,” he said.
“All I’m saying is that if we understand why they are doing this, it will be easier to defend ourselves.”
He also suggested that the Canadian grain industry would be making a good investment if it spent the money to have a lobbyist in Washington.
“The American system is based on listening to inputs,” he said.
“It probably would be interesting and helpful if the Canadian grain industry had a lobbyist there to monitor and to educate.”
Of course, in the end the American politicians will pay more attention to the voters with the power to elect them and the lobbyists with the dollars to fund them than to foreign lobbyists with little to offer but facts and argument.
That’s politics.
