Federal suitors scramble to woo the farm vote

Monday, April 6, 2015

Though rural Canada will have the weakest representation ever in Parliament, the political parties still made sure to strut their stuff at the CFA's annual meeting

by BARRY WILSON

Not many 80-year olds find themselves being wooed by a parade of virile young suitors on the make but, then again, there aren't many octogenarians like the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). And there aren't too many rutting seasons like election years when political suitors are seeking out the elderly who are more likely to vote.

In late February, the CFA, which was founded in 1935, held its annual meeting in Ottawa with the theme of making sure politicians running for office in the October federal election paid some attention to agricultural issues. And in an election year, if you call them, politicians will come.

Deputy Liberal leader and former agriculture minister Ralph Goodale was first up, promising that a Liberal government would pay attention to agriculture, re-examine safety net cuts imposed in the latest iteration of Growing Forward farm support programs, keep the railways accountable for moving grain on the Prairies and generally give agriculture the respect and attention it deserves.
"You will find a willing partner with Liberals," he said.

Then came agriculture minister Gerry Ritz, who is not a great fan of the CFA that once counted the Canadian Wheat Board as a member but is also well aware that, through three elections, support from farmers and rural constituencies has been a core base of nine years of Conservative government. Ritz didn't so much woo the audience as remind them how lucky they were to have a Conservative government.

An Agriculture Canada report in early 2015 reported record net farm income last year, a drop this year but still well above the five-year average, and dropping debt-to-asset ratios. "It's a great time to be in agriculture," Ritz told the crowd.

Decoding the message, he was really saying: "If you like high incomes, good prices, rising asset values and low fuel costs, vote Conservative." If recent history is a guide, most farmers will.

Then came NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, whose rural seats west of Ontario can be counted on one hand but whose party mostly owned rural Quebec in the 2011 election, propelling the party to Official Opposition, government-in-waiting status for the first time in its half-century existence.

Mulcair did what politicians do if they can – he reminisced about his farmer grandfather in Quebec and his fond memories of the farm. He promised more farmer-friendly policies on farm labour, safety net support, ecological goods and services payments and a stout defense of supply management.

CFA delegates gave each of the party representatives an attentive and respectful reception. After the speeches, CFA president Ron Bonnett said that, while there are no illusions that agricultural concerns will be key election touchstones, "it's valuable to keep pushing from the agriculture side to include the fact that agriculture is mentioned in election platforms."

But surely political strategists from all the parties know that, for at least the past half century, rural Canada has been a Conservative bastion with some notable exceptions, including Liberal sweeps of rural Ontario in the 1990s when the Progressive Conservatives were dead and the Reform Party had not yet become saleable east of Manitoba. Under the Conservative Party guise, that has changed.

The strategists also will know that, with 30 more urban and suburban seats added to the next electoral map, in the next Parliament rural Canada will have the weakest voice in any Parliament in Canadian history.

Still, wooing the farm vote is a nice nostalgic Heritage Moment as Canada moves toward its 150th anniversary. BF

Barry Wilson is a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery specializing in agriculture.