The Hill: Once again, farm aid is seen as 'too little, too late'

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Though billions in aid could be available under the new federal-provincial support package, the industry was underwhelmed. 'Welcome, but not enough' was one verdict

by BARRY WILSON

It is a lesson that many generations of agriculture ministers have learned the hard way. Giving away money or making money available doesn't always buy farmer praise or support.

One of the most memorable "farmers can't be bought" moments came in 1993 when federal agriculture minister Charlie Mayer stood bravely before an angry crowd of thousands in Saskatoon to defend the record amount of money the Conservatives had already sent to farmers.

It was not enough. "All we want," said one farmer who made it to the microphone, "is a lousy billion dollars."

The Conservatives had sent that and more to farmers. Their reward in the 1993 election was that every rural seat in Canada was lost and in the seat he had held in Portage, Man., since 1979, Mayer came third.

So it should have been no surprise to Gerry Ritz, the current agriculture minister, that when he cobbled together a federal-provincial deal in mid-December to provide potentially several billion dollars in program payment advances and loans to suffering livestock producers, the industry response was underwhelming.

The hog industry in particular had wanted stand-alone loans not connected to existing programs or collateral. Industry leaders promised that if producers receiving the loans could not repay them, they would leave the industry. Ritz and his provincial ministerial counterparts opted to tie loans to existing programs with their crops or future payments as collateral.

Yet, although billions of dollars could be available, the industry reacted badly. "I don't think governments really understand how severe the crisis is out there," Canadian Pork Council president Clare Schlegel said. "This package is welcomed, but it is not enough and it will not help all our producers."

Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Bob Friesen, a Manitoba hog producer, said he was unimpressed by the government announcement. "I just don't think this will meet the crisis and I can't for the life of me figure out why governments are not reacting more effectively," he said.

Ritz anticipated the "too little, too late" response with a typical quip. "According to producers, it's never enough and according to my colleagues in government, it's always too much," Ritz said at a news conference after working out details of the deal with provincial ministers. "But, having said that, it's a matter of trying to level the playing field and make sure that our pork producers can weather the storm."

What must have been particularly grating to Ritz was that shortly before the federal-provincial announcement, Alberta and Ontario announced their own response to the crisis to much praise from their farmers. Saskatchewan followed with its own announcement of aid to the livestock sector.

Yet Ritz, in his first test as a minister responding to an unusual sectoral crisis, announced billions but insisted it would be delivered within the confines of existing program rules. There would be no ad hoc programs and no special deals.

Though farmer reaction suggested that he had made an unpopular choice, it will not change Conservative dominance of rural ridings in the next election. But it is a reminder that agriculture ministers accepting the job should not expect to be loved. BF

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