Ralph Goodale’s announcement of his barley-vote gamble sets in motion a tense political drama which shifts some of the tight-collar tensions from the Reform caucus to the Liberals.
Goodale clearly prefers to keep the Canadian Wheat Board as the single-desk exporter of barley. Most of his caucus mates agree. Yet if he loses the vote, and his gamble, it will be virtually impossible for the government to ignore the demand that the board lose its barley jurisdiction. Pressure will grow for wheat to be put to the vote as well.
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In these days of populism and the politics of self-interest, Liberals and other defenders of the Board’s monopoly enter the debate facing an uphill battle to win public support for the option of having limited options, rather than more choices.
A key debating point will be whether farmers who want more marketing options also can have the Board as a back-up. Can they expect to have it both ways?
The Liberals, through the plebiscite question and campaigning, will try to make it an either-or question.
Through the hours of agonizing debates among the Liberal western caucus members which preceded the decision to take the gamble, there was a clear recognition that the outcome is far from certain. For them, it is tight-collar time.
On the Reform side of the House of Commons, on the other hand, there is some relief. Finally, they have something concrete to criticize.
Because of the government’s procrastination, Reform has been shadow-boxing with a ghostly opponent and the results often have been confusing.
The official party policy is that farmers should have a choice that includes the board. Within caucus, however, there is a wide range of opinions, often expressed in a welter of contradictory messages.
Does the Reform Party support the Canadian Wheat Board, as it insists, or does it not?
Alberta MPs like Leon Benoit, while claiming to support its continued existence, often sound as if the board should simply be jettisoned. Manitoba MP Jake Hoeppner often makes the board sound like part of a criminal conspiracy.
In Saskatchewan, these faces of Reform make MPs squirm at times.
They hear much more pro-board reaction from their constituents and sound more pro-Board themselves. Some say they will vote for the Board monopoly and against party policy if that is what their voters want.
“There is no doubt we have been sending out a mixed message and I have been getting some heat from my people for that,” Moose Jaw MP Allan Kerpan said last week. He said announcement of the government’s policy will come as a relief.
“Hopefully, we will be organized to project a common message.”
Kerpan said his riding is quite pro-Wheat Board and he hears about it when Reform MPs play to the anti-Board lobby.
“That makes me uneasy. I don’t mind saying that. I know at times we have not always had all our ducks in a row. I think now that there is a real policy to talk about, we might be able to be a bit more focused ourselves.”
Hopefully.
