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BetterFarming.com

Better Farming

August 2016

THE

HILL

by BARRY WILSON

W

hen the national federal-

provincial farm policy

framework now in place was

being negotiated five years ago, there

was a strong-willed federal agriculture

minister (Gerry Ritz) with a strong

Conservative government agenda to

cut farm support bills for Ottawa and

to prod farmers to become less reliant

on government and more reliant on

markets and private sector insurance

programs.

Most provincial ministers, happy

to hitch a ride on a spending-reduc-

ing program agreement, bought into

the agenda.

Many farm leaders, largely kept in

the dark, were angry at the cuts in

AgriStability, AgriInvest and

AgriRecovery coverage.

Five years later, what a difference.

At least then, there was an agenda.

This summer when agriculture

ministers met in Calgary to intensify

negotiations for Agricultural Policy

Framework III (for those readers

keeping count) that will take effect in

2018 and must be pinned down

within the next year, the dynamic was

entirely different.

There was a new federal minister

(Lawrence MacAulay) with a weak

mandate from the urban-oriented

majority Liberal government and

provincial ministers happy to tag

along even as farm lobbyists de-

manded more transparency in the

negotiations.

And there was one other signifi-

cant change in the APF negotiation

dynamic.

Unlike last time when a deal was

worked out and a Conservative-domi-

nated House of Commons agricul-

ture committee gave it little scrutiny,

a new powerful Parliament Hill

player will be paying attention to how

farmers are faring.

The House of Commons finance

committee – chaired in this session by

23-year veteran MP, former Prince

Edward Island farmer and former

National Farmers’ Union president

Wayne Easter – will be paying more

attention than usual. Typically, farm

policy discussion is shuffled off to the

Commons agriculture committee.

“The main Hill player still will be

the agriculture committee so the APF

and the robustness of farm support

programs will come to us in a kind of

side way,” Easter said in an interview.

“For too long agriculture has been

pigeon-holed and not considered part

of the broader economic issue but as

I see it, the finance committee can go

anywhere, look at anything connected

to the economy and agriculture is an

important economic driver . . . Not to

over-emphasize it but to give it its

due.”

In other words, in a world in which

farm prices and incomes fluctuate

and recent record farm income levels

are bound to decline while farm debt

continues to reach record levels every

year, if agricultural support programs

come out of the APF III negotiations

diminished or not enhanced, involved

agricultural officials and politicians

may have some explaining to do.

“This committee is not going to be

taking its direction from the govern-

ment,” said Easter. “In dealing with

me, I’m not shy about challenging the

system, and that includes in agricul-

ture and government policy.”

As chair of the finance committee,

67-year-old Easter will have signifi-

cant influence on what the committee

chooses to investigate. Agricultural

supports may well be one of them.

Over his remarkable political

career in farm and federal politics, he

has shown himself to be an effective

survivor and pragmatist.

As president of the youth wing

and then national president of the

NFU, Easter was the face of farmer

radicalism, organizing tractor

boycotts and Parliament Hill rallies to

protest government policy, program

erosion and low prices.

Then in 1993, when he decided to

enter federal politics, he became a

Liberal despite years of protesting

Liberal and Progressive Conservative

agriculture policies because that was

the only way to get elected in PEI.

He won a grueling riding race for the

nomination and then the election.

He has held the rural seat through

eight elections, proving himself to be

a loyal Liberal foot soldier (and

cabinet minister) while not afraid to

sometimes challenge the powers-that-

be.

APF III negotiators beware.

Someone with some Parliament Hill

clout is watching.

BF

Barry Wilson is a member of the

Parliamentary Press Gallery and specializes

in agriculture.

A powerful ally for farmers

As Canada’s federal and provincial governments negotiate a new round of agricultural policy,

Wayne Easter, veteran politician, former farmer and now head of the House of Commons

finance committee, will be watching.

Wayne Easter