ON June 28, I joined millions of Canadians to cast my ballot in the federal election. But this election was unique in my personal experience. Not only did I have the privilege of voting, I also participated as a candidate.
As a farmer who has been deeply involved in agricultural policy discussions for the past two decades, I anticipated a substantial amount of talk about agriculture during the campaign. With many farm families struggling to make ends meet, each party’s proposals for long-term farm financial viability would surely garner careful scrutiny.
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The continuing BSE crisis would surely focus a good deal of critical attention on trade agreements and the beef processing industry in Canada. Marketing and transportation would rate some attention. And the future of rural communities would be a key issue.
In fact, I was looking forward to a lively public discussion about a broad range of food and farm policies, environmental issues and rural urban relations. After all, many prairie voters live in the rural areas and all voters, town or country, eat. So agriculture was bound to be a vote-deciding issue.
Boy was I wrong. Agriculture barely made it onto the election screen. With the exception of some coverage in farm papers and a wave at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture sponsored debate in Ottawa, much of the discussion about agriculture was either vague or altogether absent.
When it did come up, it was often in the city. Most on-the-doorstep conversations I had about farm issues during the campaign actually happened in Saskatoon, not in the rural parts of the constituency. It was heartening to note that urban voters who raised agriculture were almost unanimous in their concern and support for farm families.
And what were the hottest topics in the rural areas? The gun registry, same-sex marriage and abortion seemed to top the list of vote deciding issues. Bread and butter issues (literally the Canadian Wheat Board and the supply-managed sectors including dairy) were virtually ignored.
This pattern poses a dilemma for all of us. How can we pressure the new government to make agriculture a priority unless farmers themselves demonstrate it is such?
A free vote on the definition of marriage or scrapping the gun registry will not serve to guide the negotiators who are working out the agriculture texts at the World Trade Organization. And that is where the future of our farms and rural communities could be either strengthened or further undermined.
Does the low profile accorded to agriculture really represent its importance in Canada? If not, how can we ensure that both urban and rural Canadians reevaluate the role of farming in our economy, our culture, our environmental care and our food security?
A federal election could be a grand opportunity for a nationwide, public discussion of these issues – with the farming community focusing the debate and proposing positive, practical policies.
It could be.
Nettie Wiebe is a farmer in the Delisle, Sask., region and a professor of Church and Society at St. Andrews College in Saskatoon. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Western Producer.
