The Hill

Agriculture rated not a word in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s speech and little more in the budget details

by BARRY WILSON

Farm leaders are in the business of being optimistic, always expecting or at least hoping that governments will recognize the flaws in their program offerings and that customers will understand farmers need a decent price to survive.

Once upon a time, say before 2003, federal budgets were the annual event that put their optimism about government to the test. Would there be increased spending, new programs, promises to fix programs that are broken?

Agriculture ministers showed no signs of responding to the farm crisis when they met in February. Are they sending a ‘survival of the fittest’ message to producers?

by BARRY WILSON

Given the prolonged meltdown that has been unfolding in livestock sectors for several years, particularly in the hog industry, Canada’s agriculture ministers show a remarkable lack of urgency in trying to help.  

The recession in rural, urban and industrial Ontario has created a crisis for those dependent on food handouts and those at the forefront want the taxman to level the playing field.

by BARRY WILSON

This column is mainly about Ontario’s poor and how problems in the agricultural economy in Ontario made their lives worse.

But first, a word from the sponsors of the view that life is pretty darn good down on the farm.

In late 2009, Agriculture Canada published its annual survey of farm financial statistics that suggested many farmers were doing better last year.

True, debt levels rose but so did assets.

So say farm groups, who are lobbying hard in Ottawa to repair the damage done by Liberal deficit-cutting in the 1990s. But so far the Tory government doesn’t seem to be listening

by BARRY WILSON

Fourteen years after the Liberals took an axe to agricultural research funding in the name of deficit reduction, the chickens are coming home to roost.

From all sides of the farmer political spectrum, a theme has developed in recent months as farm leaders troop to Parliament Hill with their wish lists. More research is needed. Did I mention research? Ottawa has to spend more money on research.

What has happened to the farm lobby, wonders the Liberal ag critic and former head of the National Farmers Union, and its historic role of holding governments to account?

by BARRY WILSON

Back in the day, politicians courted farm leaders. They were an important pipeline to an important constituency. They articulated goals for a key sector.

When the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) cleared his throat in the 1970s and told the federal government what was needed, they listened and tried to respond.

That was then. These days, farm leaders are judged by whether they are telling politicians what they want to hear.

If not, they are sidelined.

Rural municipalities and farm leaders are welcoming the announcement of $225 million in federal funding to bring high-speed Internet to rural Canada

by BARRY WILSON

Governments, political parties and political leaders love to talk about their love for rural Canada.

The Chrétien-Martin Liberals had their “rural lens” that produced little concrete result.

Current Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has made the “rural-urban divide” one of his themes, insisting it is a national unity issue and one of the great cleavages in modern Canada. And he says he does not want to lead a party or a government that represents only urban Canada, as the Liberal Party has come to be seen.

When ‘investment’ turns out to be loans and open borders turn out to be still closed, public confidence in government announcements is lost

by BARRY WILSON

Governments, including the current Conservative gang, often seem to have a difficult time giving their citizens the straight goods when it comes to announcing policies or developments.

Of course, they work to put the best spin on things and that is part of the game of politics.

But, often, that spin can verge on the misleading. Last winter’s budget announcement of a $50-million “investment” for packer capacity expansion was a classic.

To become competitive again in rural areas, the federal Liberals must change more than a leader or a policy booklet. They must change the way they view rural culture.

by BARRY WILSON

Former federal agriculture minister Bob Speller, five times elected and a 16-year MP but twice defeated and on the sidelines in the last election, is considering another campaign.
He would be trying to reclaim the Haldimand-Norfolk tobacco country riding in southwest Ontario.

The Tory ag minister is succeeding in changing the debate from what governments owe producers toward what can be done to make the market return more

by BARRY WILSON

Slowly but surely, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is changing the focus of agricultural policy debates in Canada.

Not so long ago, the main federal-provincial argument was about how to cut the cash, how much aid should go to each province and what was fair.

Inadequate safety nets, high input costs and livestock sector woes are just a few of the long-standing issues confronting agricultural leaders. Add to that political instability and consumer concerns about rising food prices

by BARRY WILSON