Rural issues of the day deemed non-issues of the day

JOHN Wyndham opened his 1951 science fiction classic The Day of the Triffids with a memorable image: “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

Since this is science fiction, fast forward 48 years to a triffid moment last week on Parliament Hill.

It was a lesson in theatrical “issue of the day” politics, which often is presented to Canadian news consumers as the substance of Ottawa political work. In fact, the theatrical issues more often are like a cork that visibly bobs along on the surface of Lake Winnipeg while a far more complex world exists below the surface.

Read Also

Producers face the reality of shifting grain price expectations

Significant price shifts have occurred in various grains as compared to what was expected at the beginning of the calendar year. Crop insurance prices can be used as a base for the changes.

The scene was a meeting of the House of Commons natural resources and government operations committee.

It was the first of a series of public hearings on inadequacies in rural telephone and communications service, hearings that bring Bob Friesen to Parliament Hill this week for his first appearance as Canadian Federation of Agriculture president.

In Ottawa political terms, this is not a high-profile issue. Normally, a hearing on rural telecommunications policy would attract a reporter from The Western Producer and that’s about it.

And so it started.

But half an hour into the testimony from senior Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission officials, others began to saunter in – camera operators from the networks, reporters from national and regional newspapers.

Soon, there were a dozen or more. None of them were taking notes.

They were there to hear about the woes of rural telephone service?

“No, the Senate,” whispered a colleague.

It turned out the “government operations” part of the committee mandate meant it was the place where Reform MPs could move a motion to drag a senator before them to defend an increase in the Senate’s 1999-2000 budget.

The Senate budget increase had become the poster boy issue-of-the-week for anti-Senate crusaders.

Last Wednesday was showtime and reporters were there for the spectacle, knowing the Liberal majority would deny the request.

When the CRTC had left, debate finally broke out on the Senate and reporters could begin to take notes.

They heard New Democrat Lorne Nystrom suggest there was an unsavory feeling of secrecy surrounding the issue – even though like all MPs, he had approved an increase in parliamentary salaries (including Senate) last year, which the budget increase will cover.

Finally, the Liberal majority voted to hold the rest of the debate in secret and the reporters were ordered out of the room, forced to stand around to wait a half hour for critics to emerge to denounce the Senate and Liberal arrogance.

Once back to their offices, none filed a word about rural telephone service, even though it occupied 75 percent of the meeting and may actually produce government policy changes.

By the next day, Liberal income tax policy was the issue of the day.

Move on.